Methods and Compositions for Producing Brachytic Corn Plants

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure is in the field of plant breeding. The disclosure provides methods for breeding corn plants having a brachytic trait using marker-assisted selection. The disclosure further provides brachytic germplasm, markers associated with a brachytic trait for introgressing the trait into elite germplasm in a breeding program. This disclosure also provides brachytic or dwarf elite corn varieties having yield equal to or higher than conventional non-brachytic corn varieties.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/139,733, filed Apr. 27, 2016, which claims priority benefit to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 62/153,831 and 62/180,430, filed on Apr. 28, 2015, and Jun. 16, 2015, respectively, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

INCORPORATION OF SEQUENCE LISTING

A sequence listing contained in the file named “P34302US03.txt” which is 47,541 bytes (measured in MS-Windows®) and created on Sep. 20, 2019, comprises 120 nucleotide sequences, is filed electronically herewith and incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

A sustained increase in crop yield, e.g., in wheat and rice has been achieved in the past few decades. This increase is partly attributed to the use of fertilizers and pesticides as well as the introduction of semi-dominant dwarfing mutations which reduce plant height. Taller plants are more likely to lodge in response to heavy rainfall or wind, and the heavier inflorescences of high-yield elite breeds also make them more susceptible to lodging. In contrast, crops with a shorter stature are more resistant to lodging. Moreover, dwarf and semi-dwarf traits can also allow higher planting densities and help improve crop harvest index and nitrogen response. The introduction of dwarf varieties of wheat and rice served as a cornerstone of the so-called “Green revolution” of the late 20th century.

Maize (Zea mays L.), a member of the Gramineae genus, provides cylindrical stalks similar to those from other grasses. The maize stalks are thick and spongy inside and divided into parts called internodes and nodes. The number of nodes ranges from between 8 to 40 depending on the variety and growing conditions. Commercial hybrid maize normally grows to a height of typically more than 2 meters with each plant having either one or two ears. The ear normally grows about one-third of the way up the plant or about three feet from the ground. Consequently a maize plant, while providing a large ear in addition to a substantial leaf and stalk structure, can have a considerable mechanical stability problem. Reducing the height of a maize plant can improve the mechanical stability of the plant.

More than 40 monogenic dwarfing mutants have been described in maize. A majority of these mutants lead to great reductions in grain yield and, consequently, they have not been used to enhance crop yield in germplasm that is sensible to lodging. Therefore, an important goal in corn breeding is to identify and use dwarf or semi-dwarf mutations which confer a short stature without severely impacting other organs, especially reproductive organs (e.g., ears).

In maize, brachytic mutants show a short stature due to a shortening of the internode length without a corresponding reduction in the number of internodes or the number and size of other organs, including the leaves, ear and tassel. See Kempton J. Hered. 11:111-115(1920); Pilu et al., Molecular Breeding, 20:83-91(2007). Three brachytic mutants have been isolated in maize to date: brachytic1 (br1), brachytic2 (br2) and brachytic3 (br3). Both br1 and br3 mutations cause a reduction in corn plant height which has been thought too severe for commercial exploitation due to potential impacts over yield. In contrast, the br2 mutant has particular agronomic potential because of the shortening of the internodes of the lower stalk with no obvious reduction in other plant organs. In addition, br2 lines exhibit an unusual stalk strength and tolerance to wind lodging, while the leaves are often darker and persist longer in the active green than those of the wild-type plants. The br2 phenotype is insensitive to treatment with Gibberellins, auxins, brassinosteroids and cytokinins, suggesting that the biosynthesis of these hormones is not modified by the br2 mutation.

Multani et al. identified the genomic sequence of the Br2 gene and deposited it under GenBank Accession No. AY366085. See Science, 302(5642)81-84 (2003). Br2 was annotated to encode a putative protein similar to adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-binding cassette transporters of the multidrug resistant (MDR) class of β-glycoproteins (PGPs). Pilu et al. reported a br2-23 allele having an 8-bp deletion in the 3′ end of the Br2 gene and claimed a direct relationship between this deletion and the brachytic phenotype in their br2-23 plants. See Pilu et al., Molecular Breeding, 20:83-91(2007). Nevertheless, the use of brachytic mutations in corn has not been exploited commercially partly because of the severity of the available brachytic mutant alleles.

There is a need in corn breeding to identify corn germplasm that provides novel and commercially relevant brachytic mutant alleles, e.g., those conferring an intermediate brachytic phenotype and maintaining or improving kernel yield. There is also a need to develop polymorphic markers for monitoring and introgressing novel brachytic mutant alleles, and further develop agronomically elite corn lines comprising a brachytic trait for enhancing plant productivity.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure provides methods of selecting a corn plant or seed, which methods comprise (a) detecting in a population of corn plants or seeds a corn plant or seed comprising a brachytic allele at a polymorphic locus, wherein the polymorphic locus is associated with or linked to a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109; and (b) selecting the corn plant or seed comprising the brachytic allele. In some aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic allele at a polymorphic locus within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of the marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109. In some aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic allele at a polymorphic locus within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of the marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 5-8, 11-22, and 86-95. In other aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic allele of a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109. In some aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic allele of a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 5-8, 9-22, and 86-95. In some aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic allele of a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 7 and 95. In some aspects, the detected brachytic allele is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 27-48. In some aspects, these methods comprise crossing a first corn plant comprising the brachytic allele with a second corn plant to produce the population of corn plants or seeds. In other aspects, these methods further comprise backcrossing with the second corn plant. In some aspects, these methods select a corn plant or seed from a segregating population or a haploid breeding population. In other aspects, these methods select a corn plant or seed from one or more landraces or doubled-haploid populations. In some aspects, step (b) of these methods comprise using a marker assay provided herein. In other aspects, these methods further comprise genotyping the population of corn plants or seeds at one or more polymorphic sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 71-75. In further aspects, these methods further comprise detecting a brachytic allele of a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 71-75. In some aspects, the detected brachytic allele is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 76-80.

In one aspect, this disclosure provides methods of creating a population of corn plants comprising at least one allele associated with a brachytic trait, which methods comprise the steps of (a) genotyping a first population of corn plants, the population containing at least one allele associated with a brachytic trait, wherein the at least one brachytic allele is associated with a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109; (b) selecting from the first population one or more corn plants containing at least one brachytic allele; and (c) producing from the selected corn plants a second population, thereby creating a population of corn plants comprising at least one brachytic allele. In some aspects, these methods comprise genotyping a locus for at least one brachytic allele within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of the marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109. In some aspects, these methods comprise genotyping a locus for at least one brachytic allele within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of the marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 5-8, 11-22, and 86-95. In other aspects, these methods comprise genotyping a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109. In some aspects, these methods comprise genotyping a locus for at least one brachytic allele of a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 5-8, 11-22, and 86-95. In some aspects, these methods comprise genotyping a locus for at least one brachytic allele of a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 7 and 95. In some aspects, the brachytic allele is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 27-48. In other aspects, these methods further comprise genotyping the first population of corn plants at one or more polymorphic sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 71-75. In some aspects, step (a) of these methods further comprise genotyping the first population of corn plants at one or more polymorphic sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 71-75. In further aspects, step (a) of these methods further comprise genotyping the first population of corn plants for a brachytic allele selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 76-80.

In one aspect, this disclosure provides methods of selecting a corn plant or seed, which methods comprise: (a) genotyping a population of corn plants or seeds at a polymorphic locus associated with a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109; and (b) selecting a corn plant or seed comprising a brachytic allele at said polymorphic locus. In some aspects, these methods comprise genotyping at a polymorphic locus within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of the marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109. In other aspects, these methods comprise genotyping a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109. In some aspects, these methods comprise genotyping a locus within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of the marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 5-8, 11-22, and 86-95. In some aspects, these methods comprise genotyping a locus selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 5-8, 11-22, and 86-95. In some aspects, these methods comprise genotyping a locus selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 7 and 95. In some aspects, a plant or seed selected by these methods comprises a brachytic allele selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 27-48. In other aspects, these methods further comprise genotyping the population of corn plants or seeds at one or more polymorphic sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 71-75. In some aspects, step (a) of these methods further comprise genotyping the first population of corn plants at one or more polymorphic sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 71-75. In further aspects, step (a) of these methods further comprise genotyping the first population of corn plants for a brachytic allele selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 76-80.

In one aspect, this disclosure provides methods of selecting a corn plant or seed, the method comprising: (a) isolating a nucleic acid from a corn plant or seed; (b) analyzing the nucleic acid to detect a polymorphic marker associated with a brachytic haplotype, the brachytic haplotype comprising one or more, two or more, three or more, four or more, five or more, six or more, seven or more, or eight or more brachytic alleles of markers selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109; and (c) selecting a corn plant or seed comprising the brachytic haplotype. In some aspects, these methods comprise detecting a polymorphic marker within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of the brachytic haplotype. In other aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic haplotype comprising one or more, two or more, three or more, four or more, five or more, six or more, seven or more, or eight or more brachytic alleles of markers selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109. In some aspects, these methods comprise genotyping both loci SEQ ID Nos: 7 and 95. In some aspects, the brachytic haplotype comprises one or more, two or more, three or more, four or more, five or more, six or more, seven or more, or eight or more sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 27-48. In other aspects, these methods further comprise analyzing the nucleic acid to detect one or more polymorphic sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 71-75. In some aspects, step (b) of these methods further comprise analyzing the nucleic acid to detect one or more polymorphic sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 71-75. In further aspects, these methods further comprise analyzing the nucleic acid to detect one or more brachytic alleles selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 76-80.

In one aspect, this disclosure provides methods of introgressing a brachytic trait into a corn variety, the method comprising: (a) crossing a first corn variety comprising a brachytic trait with a second corn variety not comprising the brachytic trait to produce one or more progeny corn plants; (b) analyzing the one or more progeny corn plants to detect a brachytic allele, wherein the brachytic allele is linked to a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109; and (c) selecting a progeny corn plant comprising the brachytic allele. In some aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic allele within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of the marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109. In some aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic allele within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of the marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 5-8, 11-22, and 86-95. In some aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic allele of a locus selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 5-8, 11-22, and 86-95. In some aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic allele of a locus selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 7 and 95. In other aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic allele of a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22, 71-75, and 86-109. In some aspects, the brachytic allele is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 27-48 and 76-80.

Corn plants or seeds selected or produced using methods disclosed herein can have a single gene conversion of the Br2 genomic region. In some aspects, the corn plants or seeds comprise a reduced level of Br2 mRNA or protein compared to a control plant not having the brachytic allele. In other aspects, the corn plants or seeds comprise reduced Br2 protein activity compared to a control plant not having the brachytic allele. In some aspects, the height of the selected plant at maturity is reduced for about 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, or 70% compared to a control plant not having a brachytic allele. In other aspects, the yield of the selected plant is equal to or more than the yield of a control plant not having a brachytic allele. In some aspects, corn plants or seeds selected using these methods require about 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, or 25% fewer heat units than control plants to reach anthesis. In other aspects, corn plants or seeds selected using these methods have a relative maturity of about 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, or 45% fewer days than the relative maturity of control plants.

In another aspect, this disclosure provides hybrid brachytic, dwarf, or semi-dwarf corn plants, or plant parts thereof, comprising a brachytic allele characterizable by one or more sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 27-48. In some aspects, corn plants provided herein are elite lines. These elite lines can be transgenic or non-transgenic, inbreds or hybrids.

In one aspect, this disclosure provides a container of elite corn seeds comprising a brachytic allele characterizable by one or more sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 27-48. These seeds can be transgenic or non-transgenic. They can also be inbred or hybrid seeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEQUENCES

SEQ ID NOs: 1 to 22 list polymorphic marker sequences concordant with the brachytic trait. SEQ ID NOs: 23 to 26 list example primer and probe sequences for genotyping marker SEQ ID NO: 7. SEQ ID NOs: 27 to 48 list the corresponding example brachytic alleles as shown in Table 2. SEQ ID NOs: 49 to 70 list the corresponding example non-brachytic alleles as shown in Table 2. SEQ ID NOs: 71 to 75 list additional polymorphic marker sequences. SEQ ID NOs: 76 to 80 list the corresponding example brachytic alleles as shown in Table 7. SEQ ID NOs: 81 to 85 list the corresponding example non-brachytic alleles as shown in Table 7. SEQ ID NOs: 86 to 109 list additional Br2-associated polymorphic sequences. SEQ ID NOs: 112 to 116 list example primer and probe sequences for genotyping marker SEQ ID NO: 95. One of ordinary skill in the art would understand that polymorphic markers disclosed herein comprise various alleles which include, but are not limited to, the listed example alleles.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Unless defined otherwise herein, terms are to be understood according to conventional usage by those of ordinary skill in the relevant art. Examples of resources describing many of the terms related to molecular biology used herein can be found in Alberts et al., Molecular Biology of The Cell, 5^(th) Edition, Garland Science Publishing, Inc.: New York, 2007; Rieger et al., Glossary of Genetics: Classical and Molecular, 5th edition, Springer-Verlag: New York, 1991; King et al, A Dictionary of Genetics, 6th ed., Oxford University Press: New York, 2002; and Lewin, Genes IX, Oxford University Press: New York, 2007. The nomenclature for DNA bases as set forth at 37 C.F.R. § 1.822 is used.

As used herein, terms in the singular and the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the,” for example, include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “plant,” “the plant,” or “a plant” also includes a plurality of plants; also, depending on the context, use of the term “plant” can also include genetically similar or identical progeny of that plant; use of the term “a nucleic acid” optionally includes, as a practical matter, many copies of that nucleic acid molecule; similarly, the term “probe” optionally (and typically) encompasses many similar or identical probe molecules.

As used herein, “plant” refers to a whole plant, any part thereof, or a cell or tissue culture derived from a plant, comprising any of: whole plants, plant components or organs (e.g., leaves, stems, roots, etc.), plant tissues, seeds, plant cells, and/or progeny of the same. A progeny plant can be from any filial generation, e.g., F₁, F₂, F₃, F₄, F₅, F₆, F₇, etc. A plant cell is a biological cell of a plant, taken from a plant or derived through culture from a cell taken from a plant.

As used herein, a “corn plant” or “maize plant” refers to a plant of species Zea mays L and includes all plant varieties that can be bred with corn, including wild maize species.

As used herein, a “dwarf” plant refers to a atypically small plant. Generally, such a “dwarf plant” has a stature or height that is reduced from that of a control wild-type plant (e.g., a sibling plant comprising all other traits except the dwarf trait) by about 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60% or greater. A “semi-dwarf plant” refers to a plant having a stature or height that is reduced from that of a control wild-type plant by about 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30% or less. Generally, but not exclusively, such a dwarf plant is characterized by a reduced stem, stalk or trunk length when compared to the control wild-type plant.

As used herein, a “brachytic plant” refers to a plant showing a short stature due to a shortening of the internode length without a corresponding reduction in the number of internodes or the number and size of other organs including, but not limited to, leaves, ear and tassel. “Brachysm” refers to a abnormal variation of plants characterized by shortening of the internodes, without corresponding reductions of other plant parts.

As used herein, “germplasm” refers to living sources of genetic material. The germplasm can be part of an organism or cell, or can be separate from the organism or cell. In general, germplasm provides genetic material with a specific molecular makeup that provides a physical foundation for some or all of the hereditary qualities of an organism or cell culture. As used herein, germplasm includes cells, seed or tissues from which new plants may be grown, or plant parts, such as leaves, stems, pollen, or cells that can be cultured into a whole plant.

As used herein, the phrase “associated with” or “linked to” refers to a recognizable and/or assayable relationship between two entities. For example, the phrase “associated with a brachytic trait” refers to a trait, locus, gene, allele, marker, phenotype, etc., or the expression thereof, the presence or absence of which can influence an extent, degree, and/or rate at which a plant or a part of interest thereof that has a brachytic trait. As such, a marker is “associated with” a trait when it is linked to it and when the presence of the marker is an indicator of whether and/or to what extent the desired trait or trait form will occur in a plant/germplasm comprising the marker. Similarly, a marker is “associated with” an allele when it is linked to it and when the presence of the marker is an indicator of whether the allele is present in a plant/germplasm comprising the marker. For example, “a marker associated with a brachytic phenotype” refers to a marker whose presence or absence can be used to predict whether and to what extent a plant will display a brachytic phenotype.

As used herein, a centimorgan (“cM”) is a unit of measure of recombination frequency and genetic distance between two loci. One cM is equal to a 1% chance that a marker at one genetic locus will be separated from a marker at, a second locus due to crossing over in a single generation. Genetic distances can be calculated from recombination values using the Kosambi function (Kosambi, The estimation of map distances from recombination values. Annals of Eugenics, 12:172-75 (1944)).

As used herein, “closely linked” means that the marker or locus is within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of another marker or locus. For example, 20 cM means that recombination between the marker and the locus with a frequency of equal to or less than about 20%.

As used herein, “locus” is a chromosome region where a polymorphic nucleic acid, trait determinant, gene or marker is located. A locus may represent a single nucleotide, a few nucleotides or a large number of nucleotides in a genomic region. The loci of this disclosure comprise one or more polymorphisms in a population; e.g., alternative alleles are present in some individuals. A “gene locus” is a specific chromosome location in the genome of a species where a specific gene can be found.

As used herein, “allele” refers to an alternative nucleic acid sequence at a particular locus. The length of an allele can be as small as 1 nucleotide base. For example, a first allele can occur on one chromosome, while a second allele occurs on a second homologous chromosome, e.g., as occurs for different chromosomes of a heterozygous individual, or between different homozygous or heterozygous individuals in a population.

As used herein, a “brachytic allele” is an allele at a particular locus that confers, or contributes to, a brachytic phenotype, or alternatively, is an allele that allows for the identification of plants that comprise a brachytic phenotype or plants that can give rise to progenies with a brachytic phenotype. For example, a brachytic allele of a marker can be a marker allele that segregates with a brachytic phenotype.

As used herein, “allele frequency” refers to the frequency (proportion or percentage) at which an allele is present at a locus within an individual, within a line, or within a population of lines. For example, for an allele “A,” diploid individuals of genotype “AA,” “Aa,” or “aa” have allele frequencies of 1.0, 0.5, or 0.0, respectively. One can estimate the allele frequency within a line by averaging the allele frequencies of a sample of individuals from that line. Similarly, one can calculate the allele frequency within a population of lines by averaging the allele frequencies of lines that make up the population. For a population with a finite number of individuals or lines, an allele frequency can be expressed as a count of individuals or lines (or any other specified grouping) containing the allele. An allele positively correlates with a trait when it is linked to it and when presence of the allele is an indicator that the desired trait or trait form will occur in a plant comprising the allele. An allele negatively correlates with a trait when it is linked to it and when presence of the allele is an indicator that a desired trait or trait form will not occur in a plant comprising the allele.

As used herein, “crossed” or “cross” means to produce progeny via fertilization (e.g. cells, seeds or plants) and includes crosses between plants (sexual) and self fertilization (selfing).

As used herein, “backcross” and “backcrossing” refer to the process whereby a progeny plant is repeatedly crossed back to one of its parents. In a backcrossing scheme, the “donor” parent refers to the parental plant with the desired gene or locus to be introgressed. The “recipient” parent (used one or more times) or “recurrent” parent (used two or more times) refers to the parental plant into which the gene or locus is being introgressed. For example, see Ragot et al., Marker-assisted Backcrossing: A Practical Example, in TECHNIQUES ET UTILISATIONS DES MARQUEURS MOLECULAIRES LES COLLOQUES, Vol. 72, pp. 45-56 (1995); and Openshaw et al., Marker-assisted Selection in Backcross Breeding, in PROCEEDINGS OF THE SYMPOSIUM “ANALYSIS OF MOLECULAR MARKER DATA,” pp. 41-43 (1994). The initial cross gives rise to the F₁ generation. The term “BC1” refers to the second use of the recurrent parent, “BC2” refers to the third use of the recurrent parent, and so on. In some aspects, a backcross is performed repeatedly, with a progeny individual of each successive backcross generation being itself backcrossed to the same parental genotype.

As used herein, “elite line” means any line that has resulted from breeding and selection for superior agronomic performance. Similarly, an “elite germplasm” or elite strain of germplasm is an agronomically superior germplasm. Numerous elite lines are available and known to those of skill in the art of corn breeding.

As used herein, “genetic element” or “gene” refers to a heritable sequence of DNA, e.g., a genomic sequence, with functional significance. The term “gene” can also be used to refer to, e.g., a cDNA and/or an mRNA encoded by a genomic sequence, as well as to that genomic sequence.

As used herein, “genotype” is the genetic constitution of an individual (or group of individuals) at one or more genetic loci, as contrasted with the observable trait (phenotype). Genotype is defined by the allele(s) of one or more known loci that the individual has inherited from its parents. The term genotype can be used to refer to an individual's genetic constitution at a single locus, at multiple loci, or, more generally, the term genotype can be used to refer to an individual's genetic make-up for all the genes in its genome. The term genotype can also refer to determining the genetic constitution of an individual (or group of individuals) at one or more genetic loci.

As used herein, a “haplotype” is the genotype of an individual at a plurality of genetic loci. Typically, the genetic loci described by a haplotype are physically and genetically linked, e.g., in the same chromosome interval. A haplotype can also refer to a combination of SNP alleles located within a single gene.

As used herein, the terms “phenotype,” or “phenotypic trait” or “trait” refers to one or more detectable characteristics of a cell or organism which can be influenced by genotype. The phenotype can be observable to the naked eye, or by any other means of evaluation known in the art, e.g., microscopy, biochemical analysis, genomic analysis, an assay for a particular disease tolerance, etc. In some cases, a phenotype is directly controlled by a single gene or genetic locus, e.g., a “single gene trait.” In other cases, a phenotype is the result of several genes.

As used herein, “linkage disequilibrium” (LD) refers to a non-random segregation of genetic loci or traits (or both). In either case, linkage disequilibrium implies that the relevant loci are within sufficient physical proximity along a length of a chromosome so that they segregate together with greater than random (i.e., non-random) frequency (in the case of co-segregating traits, the loci that underlie the traits are in sufficient proximity to each other). Linked loci co-segregate more than 50% of the time, e.g., from about 51% to about 100% of the time. Linkage disequilibrium can be measured using any one of the methods provided in Hedrick, Gametic disequilibrium measures: proceed with caution. Genetics, 117:331-41(1987). The term “physically linked” is sometimes used to indicate that two loci, e.g., two marker loci, are physically present on the same chromosome. Advantageously, the two linked loci are located in close proximity such that recombination between homologous chromosome pairs does not occur between the two loci during meiosis with high frequency, e.g., such that linked loci cosegregate at least about 90% of the time, e.g., 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%, 99.5%, 99.75%, or more of the time.

As used herein, “marker assay” means a method for detecting a polymorphism at a particular locus using a particular method, e.g. measurement of at least one phenotype (such as seed color, flower color, or other visually detectable traits), restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), single base extension, electrophoresis, sequence alignment, allelic specific oligonucleotide hybridization (ASO), random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), microarray-based technologies, and nucleic acid sequencing technologies, etc.

As used herein, “marker assisted selection” (MAS) is a process by which phenotypes are selected based on marker genotypes. “Marker assisted selection breeding” refers to the process of selecting a desired trait or traits in a plant or plants by detecting one or more nucleic acids from the plant, where the nucleic acid is linked to the desired trait, and then selecting the plant or germplasm possessing those one or more nucleic acids.

As used herein, “polymorphism” means the presence of one or more variations in a population. A polymorphism may manifest as a variation in the nucleotide sequence of a nucleic acid or as a variation in the amino acid sequence of a protein. Polymorphisms include the presence of one or more variations of a nucleic acid sequence or nucleic acid feature at one or more loci in a population of one or more individuals. The variation may comprise but is not limited to one or more nucleotide base changes, the insertion of one or more nucleotides or the deletion of one or more nucleotides. A polymorphism may arise from random processes in nucleic acid replication, through mutagenesis, as a result of mobile genomic elements, from copy number variation and during the process of meiosis, such as unequal crossing over, genome duplication and chromosome breaks and fusions. The variation can be commonly found or may exist at low frequency within a population, the former having greater utility in general plant breeding and the latter may be associated with rare but important phenotypic variation. Useful polymorphisms may include single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), insertions or deletions in DNA sequence (Indels), simple sequence repeats of DNA sequence (SSRs), a restriction fragment length polymorphism, and a tag SNP. A genetic marker, a gene, a DNA-derived sequence, a RNA-derived sequence, a promoter, a 5′ untranslated region of a gene, a 3′ untranslated region of a gene, microRNA, siRNA, a tolerance locus, a satellite marker, a transgene, mRNA, ds mRNA, a transcriptional profile, and a methylation pattern may also comprise polymorphisms. In addition, the presence, absence, or variation in copy number of the preceding may comprise polymorphisms.

As used herein, “SNP” or “single nucleotide polymorphism” means a sequence variation that occurs when a single nucleotide (A, T, C, or G) in the genome sequence is altered or variable. “SNP markers” exist when SNPs are mapped to sites on the genome.

As used herein, “marker” or “molecular marker” or “marker locus” is a term used to denote a nucleic acid or amino acid sequence that is sufficiently unique to characterize a specific locus on the genome. Any detectable polymorphic trait can be used as a marker so long as it is inherited differentially and exhibits linkage disequilibrium with a phenotypic trait of interest. A number of markers and integrated genetic maps have been developed for corn, e.g., the UMC 98 map, the Nested Association Mapping (NAM) map, the Intermated B73/Mo17 (IBM2) genetic map, and the LHRF Gnp2004 map. See maizegdb.org/data_center/map for more. All markers are used to define a specific locus in corn genomes. Large numbers of these markers have been mapped. See maizegdb.org/data_center/marker. Each marker is therefore an indicator of a specific segment of DNA, having a unique nucleotide sequence. The map positions provide a measure of the relative positions of particular markers with respect to one another. When a trait is stated to be linked to a given marker it will be understood that the actual DNA segment whose sequence affects the trait generally co-segregates with the marker. More precise and definite localization of a trait can be obtained if markers are identified on both sides of the trait. By measuring the appearance of the marker(s) in progeny of crosses, the existence of the trait can be detected by relatively simple molecular tests without actually evaluating the appearance of the trait itself, which can be difficult and time-consuming because the actual evaluation of the trait requires growing plants to a stage and/or under environmental conditions where the trait can be expressed. Molecular markers have been widely used to determine genetic composition in corn. In some aspects, markers used herein exhibit LOD scores of 2 or greater, 3 or greater, 4 or greater, 5 or greater, 6 or greater, 7 or greater, 8 or greater, or 9 or greater with an associated trait of interest (e.g., brachysm), measuring using a method known in the art such as Qgene Version 2.23 (1996) and default parameters.

As used herein, a “genetic recombination frequency” is the frequency of a crossing over event (recombination) between two genetic loci. Recombination frequency can be observed by following the segregation of markers and/or traits following meiosis. In some cases, two different markers can have the same genetic map coordinates. In that case, the two markers are in such close proximity to each other that recombination occurs between them with such low frequency that it is undetected.

As used herein, a “genetic map” is the relationship of genetic linkage among loci on one or more chromosomes (or linkage groups) within a given species, generally depicted in a diagrammatic or tabular form. “Genetic mapping” is the process of defining the linkage relationships of loci through the use of genetic markers, populations segregating for the markers, and standard genetic principles of recombination frequency. A “genetic map location” is a location on a genetic map relative to surrounding genetic markers on the same linkage group where a specified marker can be found within a given species. In contrast, a “physical map” of the genome refers to absolute distances (for example, measured in base pairs or isolated and overlapping contiguous genetic fragments, e.g., contigs). In general, the closer two markers or genomic loci are on the genetic map, the closer they lie to one another on the physical map. A physical map of the genome does not take into account the genetic behavior (e.g., recombination frequencies) between different points on the physical map. A lack of precise proportionality between genetic distances and physical distances can exist due to the fact that the likelihood of genetic recombination is not uniform throughout the genome; some chromosome regions are cross-over “hot spots,” while other regions demonstrate only rare recombination events, if any. Genetic mapping variability can also be observed between different populations of the same crop species. In spite of this variability in the genetic map that may occur between populations, genetic map and marker information derived from one population generally remains useful across multiple populations in identification of plants with desired traits, counter-selection of plants with undesirable traits and in MAS breeding. As one of skill in the art will recognize, recombination frequencies (and as a result, genetic map positions) in any particular population are not static. The genetic distances separating two markers (or a marker and a QTL) can vary depending on how the map positions are determined. For example, variables such as the parental mapping populations used, the software used in the marker mapping or QTL mapping, and the parameters input by the user of the mapping software can contribute to the QTL marker genetic map relationships. However, it is not intended that the disclosure be limited to any particular mapping populations, use of any particular software, or any particular set of software parameters to determine linkage of a particular marker or haplotypes with a desired phenotype. It is well within the ability of one of ordinary skill in the art to extrapolate the novel features described herein to any gene pool or population of interest, and using any particular software and software parameters. Indeed, observations regarding genetic markers and haplotypes in populations in addition to those described herein are readily made using the teaching of the present disclosure. In some aspects, genetic distances referred herein are calculated from recombination values using the Kosambi function (Kosambi, The estimation of map distances from recombination values. Annals of Eugenics, 12:172-75 (1944)).

As used herein, “selecting” or “selection” in the context of marker-assisted selection or breeding refers to the act of picking or choosing desired individuals, normally from a population, based on certain pre-determined criteria.

As used herein, “primer” refers to an oligonucleotide (synthetic or occurring naturally), which is capable of acting as a point of initiation of nucleic acid synthesis or replication along a complementary strand when placed under conditions in which synthesis of a complementary strand is catalyzed by a polymerase. Typically, primers are about 10 to 30 nucleotides in length, but longer or shorter sequences can be employed. Primers may be provided in double-stranded form, though the single-stranded form is more typically used. A primer can further contain a detectable label, for example a 5′ end label.

As used herein, “probe” refers to an oligonucleotide (synthetic or occurring naturally) that is complementary (though not necessarily fully complementary) to a polynucleotide of interest and forms a duplex structure by hybridization with at least one strand of the polynucleotide of interest. Typically, probes are oligonucleotides from 10 to 50 nucleotides in length, but longer or shorter sequences can be employed. A probe can further contain a detectable label.

As used herein, a “population of plants” or “plant population” means a set comprising any number, including one, of individuals, objects, or data from which samples are taken for evaluation. Most commonly, the terms relate to a breeding population of plants from which members are selected and crossed to produce progeny in a breeding program. A population of plants can include the progeny of a single breeding cross or a plurality of breeding crosses, and can be either actual plants or plant derived material, or in silico representations of the plants. The population members need not be identical to the population members selected for use in subsequent cycles of analyses or those ultimately selected to obtain final progeny plants. Often, a plant population is derived from a single biparental cross, but may also derive from two or more crosses between the same or different parents. Although a population of plants may comprise any number of individuals, those of skill in the art will recognize that plant breeders commonly use population sizes ranging from one or two hundred individuals to several thousand, and that the highest performing 5-20% of a population is what is commonly selected to be used in subsequent crosses in order to improve the performance of subsequent generations of the population.

As used herein, “cultivar” and “variety” are used synonymously and mean a group of plants within a species (e.g., Z. mays L.) that share certain genetic traits that separate them from other possible varieties within that species. Corn cultivars can be inbreds or hybrids, though commercial corn cultivars are mostly hybrids to take advantage of hybrid vigor. Individuals within a corn hybrid cultivar are homogeneous, nearly genetically identical, with most loci in the heterozygous state.

As used herein, a “landrace” refers to a dynamic population of a cultivated plant that has historical origin, distinct identity and lacks formal crop improvement, as well as often being genetically diverse, locally adapted and associated with traditional farming systems. See Camacho Villa et al., Plant Genetic Resources: Characterization and Utilization 3(3):373-84 (2006).

As used herein, the term “inbred” means a line that has been bred for genetic homogeneity.

As used herein, the term “hybrid” means a progeny of mating between at least two genetically dissimilar parents. Without limitation, examples of mating schemes include single crosses, modified single cross, double modified single cross, three-way cross, modified three-way cross, and double cross wherein at least one parent in a modified cross is the progeny of a cross between sister lines.

As used herein, “introgression” refers to the transmission of a desired allele of a genetic locus from one genetic background to another.

As used herein, “single gene converted” or “single gene conversion” refers to plants that are developed using a plant breeding technique known as backcrossing, or via genetic engineering, wherein essentially all of the desired morphological and physiological characteristics of a variety are recovered in addition to the single gene transferred into the variety via the backcrossing technique or via genetic engineering.

Brachytic corn mutants show a short stature due to a shortening of the internode length without a corresponding reduction in the number of internodes or the number and size of other organs, including the leaves, ear and tassel. See Pilu et al., Molecular Breeding, 20:83-91(2007). Three brachytic mutants brachytic1 (br1), brachytic2 (br2) and brachytic3 (bra) have been isolated. A maize brachytic mutant of particular agronomic potential is the recessive mutation br2, which results in the shortening of the internodes of the lower stalk with no obvious reduction in other plant organs. In addition, br2 lines exhibit an unusual stalk strength and tolerance to wind lodging, while the leaves are often darker and persist longer in the active green than those of the wild-type plants. The br2 phenotype is insensitive to treatment with GAs, auxins, brassinosteroids and cytokinins, suggesting that the biosynthesis of these hormones is not modified by the br2 mutation. Multani et al. identified the genomic sequence of the Br2 gene and deposited it under GenBank Accession No. AY366085. See Science, 302(5642)81-84 (2003). Br2 was annotated to encode a putative protein similar to adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-binding cassette transporters of the multidrug resistant (MDR) class of β-glycoproteins (PGPs).

Brachytic, dwarf, or semi-dwarf corn disclosed herein may have characteristics that make it suitable for grain and forage production, especially, production in short-season environments. In particular, the limited heat units in short-season environments reduce grain yield and lessen the probability of the crop reaching physiological maturity in a given year. The disclosed brachytic, dwarf, or semi-dwarf corn plants require fewer heat units (e.g., required 10%) than conventional hybrids to reach anthesis and generally reach physiological maturity earlier than conventional cultivars. Like semi-dwarf wheat, sorghum, and rice, corn plants disclosed herein are less prone to stalk and root lodging due to the shorter stalks and lower ear placement. Corn plants disclosed herein also has the potential to produce high-quality forage due to its high ear-to-stover ratio.

Furthermore, the altered plant structure and reduced per plant leaf area of the disclosed brachytic, dwarf, or semi-dwarf corn allow for higher planting densities to maximize grain and forage yield. Conventional corn cultivars are commonly planted at 80,000 to 90,000 plants per hectare with row spacing of 0.76 m apart. In contrast, corn plants disclosed herein can be grown as small grains with narrower rows of about 0.25 m apart with a planting density of up to 200,000 plants per hectare. Corn planting density affects light condition which in turn impacts plant growth rate. Therefore, corn plants disclosed herein provide excellent group structure, sufficient exposure to sunlight and high grain yield. Production of the corn disclosed herein at such high plant population densities further provides agroecological benefits such as reduced weed pressure, surface runoff, and evapotranspiration. For example, shorter plants with fewer and shorter leaves are more adapted to water stress than taller plants at a high planting density. Further, corn plants provided herein perform better compared to conventional corn under low nitrogen condition and have higher tolerance to reduced light.

Pilu et al. previously reported a br2-23 allele having an 8-bp deletion in the 3′ end of the Br2 gene and asserted a direct relationship between this deletion and the brachytic phenotype in their br2-23 plants. See Pilu et al., Molecular Breeding, 20:83-91(2007). The 8-bp deletion starts at position 4148 in the Br2 mRNA sequence based on the AY366085 genomic sequence reference. Without the 8-bp deletion, the Br2 (PGP1) protein has amino acid residues N-G-W (Asparagine-Glycine-Tryptophan) from the affected codons. Although the 8-bp deletion causes a frame shift, the new sequence still codes for a N (Asparagine) and followed by G-W (Glycine-Tryptophan). Contrary to what Pilu et al described, the 8-bp deletion in BR2P_v1 panel is not concordant with the brachytic phenotype. This suggests that there is no direct relationship between the 8-bp deletion alone and the brachytic phenotype. Nevertheless, this disclosure contemplates genotyping of the 8-bp deletion together with one or more markers disclosed herein which are associated with a brachytic trait.

In one aspect, this disclosure provides methods of selecting a corn plant or seed, which methods comprise (a) providing a population of corn plants or seeds; (b) detecting in the population a corn plant or seed comprising a brachytic allele at a polymorphic locus, wherein the polymorphic locus is associated with a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109; and (c) selecting the corn plant or seed comprising the brachytic allele. In some aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic allele at a polymorphic locus within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of the marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109. In other aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic allele of a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109. In some aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic allele at a polymorphic locus within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of the marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 5-8, 11-22, and 86-95. In some aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic allele of a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 5-8, 9-22, and 86-95. In some aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic allele of a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 7 and 95. In some aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic allele at a polymorphic locus in linkage disequilibrium with a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109, and exhibits a LOD score of 2 or greater, 3 or greater, 4 or greater, 5 or greater, 6 or greater, 7 or greater, 8 or greater, or 9 or greater. In some aspects, step (a) of these methods comprises crossing a first corn plant comprising the brachytic allele with a second corn plant to produce the population of corn plants. In other aspects, step (a) further comprises backcrossing with the second corn plant. In some aspects, these methods select a corn plant or seed from a segregating population or a haploid breeding population. In other aspects, these methods select a corn plant or seed from one or more landraces. In some aspects, these landraces originate from North America, Mexico, or Italy. In some aspects, step (b) of these methods comprises using a marker assay provided herein. In some aspects, step (b) of these methods comprises the use of one or more primers selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 23 and 24. In other aspects, step (b) of these methods comprises the use of one or more probes selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 25 and 26. In another aspect, this disclosure provides methods of selecting a corn plant or seed, which methods comprise (a) detecting in a population of corn plants or seeds a corn plant or seed comprising a brachytic allele at a polymorphic locus, wherein the polymorphic locus is associated with a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109; and (b) selecting the corn plant or seed comprising the brachytic allele. In other aspects, these methods further comprise genotyping the population of corn plants or seeds at one or more polymorphic sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 71-75. In further aspects, these methods further comprise detecting a brachytic allele of a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 71-75. In some aspects, the detected brachytic allele is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 76-80.

In another aspect, this disclosure provides methods of selecting a corn plant or seed, which methods comprise: (a) genotyping a population of corn plants or seeds at a polymorphic locus associated with a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109; and (b) selecting a corn plant or seed comprising a brachytic allele at said polymorphic locus. In some aspects, these methods comprise genotyping at a polymorphic locus within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of the marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109. In other aspects, these methods comprise genotyping a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109. In some aspects, these methods comprise genotyping a locus for at least one brachytic allele within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of the marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 5-8, 11-22, and 86-95. In some aspects, these methods comprise genotyping a locus for at least one brachytic allele of a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 5-8, 11-22, and 86-95. In some aspects, these methods comprise genotyping a locus for at least one brachytic allele of a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 7 and 95. In some aspects, a plant or seed selected by these methods comprises a brachytic allele selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 27-48. In other aspects, these methods further comprise genotyping the population of corn plants or seeds at one or more polymorphic sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 71-75. In some aspects, step (a) of these methods further comprise genotyping the first population of corn plants at one or more polymorphic sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 71-75. In further aspects, step (a) of these methods further comprise genotyping the first population of corn plants for a brachytic allele selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 76-80.

In some aspects, corn plants or seeds selected using the above methods are homozygous for the brachytic allele. In other aspects, corn plants or seeds selected using these methods are heterozygous for the brachytic allele. In some aspects, corn plants or seeds selected using these methods are inbreds. In some aspects, corn plants or seeds selected using these methods are hybrids. In other aspects, corn plants or seeds selected using these methods are in an agronomically elite background. In some aspects, corn plants or seeds selected using these methods provide dwarf, semi-dwarf, or brachytic plants. In some aspects, corn plants or seeds selected using these methods have a single gene conversion of the Br2 genomic region. In some aspects, the corn plants or seeds comprise a reduced level of Br2 mRNA or protein compared to a control plant not having the brachytic allele. In other aspects, the corn plants or seeds comprise reduced Br2 protein activity compared to a control plant not having the brachytic allele. In some aspects, the height of the selected plant at maturity is reduced for about 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, or 70% compared to a control plant not having the brachytic allele. In other aspects, the yield of the selected plant is equal to or more than the yield of a control plant not having the brachytic allele. In some aspects, corn plants or seeds selected using these methods require about 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, or 25% fewer heat units than control plants to reach anthesis. In other aspects, corn plants or seeds selected using these methods have a relative maturity of about 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, or 45% fewer days than the relative maturity of control plants.

In one aspect, this disclosure provides methods of creating a population of corn plants comprising at least one allele associated with a brachytic trait, the method comprising the steps of (a) genotyping a first population of corn plants, the population containing at least one allele associated with a brachytic trait, wherein the at least one brachytic allele is associated with a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109; (b) selecting from the first population one or more corn plants containing the at least one brachytic allele; and (c) producing from the selected corn plants a second population, thereby creating a population of corn plants comprising at least one brachytic allele. In some aspects, these methods comprise genotyping a locus for at least one brachytic allele within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of the marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109. In other aspects, these methods comprise genotyping a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109. In some aspects, these methods comprise genotyping a locus within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of the marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 5-8, 11-22, and 86-95. In some aspects, these methods comprise genotyping a locus selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 5-8, 11-22, and 86-95. In some aspects, these methods comprise genotyping a locus selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 7 and 95. In some aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic allele at a polymorphic locus in linkage disequilibrium with a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109, and exhibits a LOD score of 2 or greater, 3 or greater, 4 or greater, 5 or greater, 6 or greater, 7 or greater, 8 or greater, or 9 or greater. In some aspects, these methods comprise genotyping a segregating population or a haploid breeding population. In some aspects, step (a) of these methods comprises using a marker assay provided herein. In some aspects, step (a) of these methods comprises the use of one or more primers selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 23 and 24. In other aspects, step (a) of these methods comprises the use of one or more probes selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 25 and 26. In some aspects, the population of corn plants produced by these methods are homozygous for the brachytic allele. In other aspects, the population of corn plants produced by these methods are heterozygous for the brachytic allele. In some aspects, the population of corn plants produced by these methods are inbreds. In some aspects, the population of corn plants produced by these methods are hybrids. In other aspects, the population of corn plants produced by these methods are in an agronomically elite background. In some aspects, the population of corn plants produced by these methods provide dwarf, semi-dwarf, or brachytic plants. In some aspects, the population of corn plants produced by these methods have a single gene conversion of the Br2 genomic region. In some aspects, the corn plants produced by these methods comprise a reduced level of Br2 mRNA or protein compared to a control plant not having the brachytic allele. In other aspects, the corn plants produced by these methods comprise reduced Br2 protein activity compared to a control plant not having the brachytic allele. In some aspects, the height of the produced plant at maturity is reduced for about 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, or 70% compared to a control plant not having the brachytic allele. In other aspects, the yield of the produced plant is equal to or more than the yield of a control plant not having the brachytic allele. In some aspects, corn plants produced by these methods require about 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, or 25% fewer heat units than control plants to reach anthesis. In other aspects, corn plants produced by these methods have a relative maturity of about 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, or 45% fewer days than the relative maturity of control plants.

In one aspect, this disclosure provides methods of selecting a corn plant or seed, the method comprising: (a) isolating a nucleic acid from a corn plant or seed; (b) analyzing the nucleic acid to detect a polymorphic marker associated with a brachytic haplotype, the brachytic haplotype comprises one or more, two or more, three or more, four or more, five or more, six or more, seven or more, or eight or more brachytic alleles of markers selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109; and (c) selecting a corn plant or seed comprising the brachytic haplotype. In some aspects, these methods comprise detecting a polymorphic marker within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of the brachytic haplotype. In other aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic haplotype comprising one or more, two or more, three or more, four or more, five or more, six or more, seven or more, or eight or more brachytic alleles of markers selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109. In some aspects, these methods comprise genotyping both loci SEQ ID Nos: 7 and 95. In some aspects, step (b) of these methods further comprise analyzing the nucleic acid to detect one or more polymorphic sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 71-75. In further aspects, these methods further comprise analyzing the nucleic acid to detect one or more brachytic alleles selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 76-80.

In one aspect, this disclosure provides methods of introgressing a brachytic trait into a corn variety, the method comprising: (a) crossing a first corn variety comprising a brachytic trait with a second corn variety not comprising the brachytic trait to produce one or more progeny corn plants; (b) analyzing the one or more progeny corn plants to detect a brachytic allele, wherein the brachytic allele is linked to a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109; and (c) selecting a progeny corn plant comprising the brachytic allele. In some aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic allele within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of the marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109 and 71-75. In other aspects, these methods comprise detecting a brachytic allele of a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109 and 71-75.

In another aspect, this disclosure provides hybrid brachytic, dwarf, or semi-dwarf corn plants, or plant part thereof, comprising a brachytic allele characterizable by one or more sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 27-48. In some aspects, corn plants provided herein are elite lines. In some aspects, elite corn plants provided herein are homozygous for the brachytic allele. In other aspects, elite corn plants provided herein are heterozygous for the brachytic allele. In some aspects, elite corn plants provided herein are inbreds. In some aspects, elite corn plants provided herein are hybrids. In other aspects, elite corn plants provided herein are transgenic. In some aspects, elite corn plants provided herein require about 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, or 25% fewer heat units than control plants to reach anthesis. In other aspects, elite corn plants provided herein have a relative maturity of about 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, or 45% fewer days than the relative maturity of control plants. In some aspects, elite corn plants provided herein have a single gene conversion of the Br2 genomic region. In some aspects, elite corn plants provided herein comprise a reduced level of Br2 mRNA or protein compared to a control plant not having the brachytic allele. In other aspects, elite corn plants provided herein comprise reduced Br2 protein activity compared to a control plant not having the brachytic allele. In some aspects, the height of elite corn plants provided herein at maturity is reduced for about 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, or 70% compared to a control plant not having the brachytic allele. In other aspects, the yield of elite corn plants provided herein is equal to or more than the yield of a control plant not having the brachytic allele.

In one aspect, this disclosure provides a container of elite corn seeds comprising a brachytic allele characterizable by one or more sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 27-48. In a further aspect, this disclosure provides a container of transgenic elite corn seeds comprising a brachytic allele characterizable by one or more sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 27-48. In some aspects, these transgenic seeds are hybrid seeds. A container of corn seeds of the instant disclosure may contain any number, weight or volume of seeds. For example, a container can contain at least, or greater than, about 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, 3500, 4000 or more seeds. Alternatively, the container can contain at least, or greater than, about 1 ounce, 5 ounces, 10 ounces, 1 pound, 2 pounds, 3 pounds, 4 pounds, 5 pounds or more seeds. Containers of corn seeds may be any container available in the art. By way of non-limiting example, a container may be a box, a bag, a packet, a pouch, a tape roll, a tube, or a bottle.

In one aspect, corn seeds disclosed herein can be subjected to various treatments. For example, the seeds can be treated to improve germination by priming the seeds or by disinfection to protect against seedborne pathogens. In another aspect, seeds can be coated with any available coating to improve, for example, plantability, seed emergence, and protection against seedborne pathogens. Seed coating can be any form of seed coating including, but not limited to, pelleting, film coating, and encrustments. In some aspects, corn plants or methods disclosed herein are used in combination with one or more pesticides including, but not limited to, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, microbiocides, nematicides, insect repellents, bactericides, and other substances used to control pests. In other aspects, the corn plants or methods disclosed herein are used in combination with one or more triazoles, strobilurins, acylamino acids, pyrimidines, pyridines, arylphenyl ketones, amides, benzanilides, imidazoles, dinitrophenols, morpholines, phenylsulfamides and organophosphorus cpds, derivatives thereof and combinations thereof which may be applied as seed, foliar, drench or drip treatments.

In one aspect, this disclosure provides corn plant cells, tissues, and organs that are not reproductive material and do not mediate the natural reproduction of the plant. In another aspect, this disclosure also provides corn plant cells, tissues, and organs that are reproductive material and mediate the natural reproduction of the plant. In another aspect, this disclosure provides corn plant cells, tissues, and organs that cannot maintain themselves via photosynthesis. In another aspect, this disclosure provides somatic corn plant cells. Somatic cells, contrary to germline cells, do not mediate plant reproduction.

The provided cells, tissues and organs may be from seed, fruit, leaf, cotyledon, hypocotyl, meristem, embryos, endosperm, root, shoot, stem, pod, flower, inflorescence, stalk, pedicel, style, stigma, receptacle, petal, sepal, pollen, anther, filament, ovary, ovule, pericarp, phloem, vascular tissue. In another aspect, this disclosure provides a corn plant chloroplast. In a further aspect, this disclosure provides epidermal cells, stomata cell, leaf or root hairs, a storage root, or a tuber. In another aspect, this disclosure provides a corn protoplast.

Skilled artisans understand that corn plants naturally reproduce via seeds, not via asexual reproduction or vegetative propagation. In one aspect, this disclosure provides corn endosperm. In another aspect, this disclosure provides corn endosperm cells. In a further aspect, this disclosure provides a male or female sterile corn plant, which cannot reproduce without human intervention.

In one aspect, corn plants disclosed herein are selected from the subspecies Zea mays L. ssp. mays. In an additional aspect, corn plants disclosed herein are selected from the group Zea mays L. subsp. mays Indentata, otherwise known as dent corn. In another aspect, corn plants disclosed herein are selected from the group Zea mays L. subsp. mays Indurata, otherwise known as flint corn. In an aspect, corn plants disclosed herein are selected from the group Zea mays L. subsp. mays Saccharata, otherwise known as sweet corn. In another aspect, corn plants disclosed herein are selected from the group Zea mays L. subsp. mays Amylacea, otherwise known as flour corn. In a further aspect, corn plants disclosed herein are selected from the group Zea mays L. subsp. mays Everta, otherwise known as pop corn. Plants disclosed herein also include hybrids, inbreds, partial inbreds, or members of defined or undefined populations.

In a further aspect, this disclosure provides processed products made from the disclosed corn plants. Such products include, but are not limited to, meal, oil, plant extract, starch, or fermentation or digestion products. In another aspect, this disclosure also provides a corn meal, which is substantially oil free and which is produced using the oilseed of any of the plants disclosed herein. In another aspect, this disclosure also provides a method of providing a corn meal by crushing oilseed of any of the plants disclosed herein.

Various corn lines disclosed herein can be used to transmit a brachytic allele disclosed here to new varieties using various cross pollination and selection methods. Breeders can also obtain hybrids using corn plants described here. Using standard crossing, backcrossing, and selection techniques, those of skill in the art may obtain commercial corn varieties with various desirable traits besides dwarfism. For example, breeders may obtain commercial dwarf corn lines and additional traits such as high nutrient use efficiency, new herbicide tolerance, increased yield, insect control, fungal disease resistance, virus resistance, nematode resistance, bacterial disease resistance, high oil production, high protein production, germination and seedling growth control, enhanced animal and human nutrition, environmental stress resistance (e.g., drought stress), increased digestibility, production of industrial enzymes, production of pharmaceutical proteins, production of pharmaceutical peptides, production of pharmaceutical small molecules, improved processing traits, improved flavor, improved hybrid seed production, reduced allergenicity, improved production of biopolymers or biofuels, and cytoplasmic male sterility.

Corn plants or lines disclosed herein can also be genetically engineered to express various phenotypes of agronomic interest. Exemplary genes implicated in this regard include, but are not limited to, genes that confer resistance to pests or disease, genes that confer resistance or tolerance to an herbicide, genes that modify oil content, genes that control male sterility, genes that affect abiotic stress resistance, and other genes and transcription factors that affect plant growth and agronomic traits such as yield, flowering, plant growth or plant structure.

Corn Transformation

Corn plants disclosed herein can also be genetically transformed. Numerous methods for plant transformation have been developed including biological and physical plant transformation protocols. See, for example, Mild, et al., “Procedures for Introducing Foreign DNA into Plants” in Methods in Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Glick B. R. and Thompson, J. E. Eds. (CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, 1993) pages 67-88. In addition, expression vectors and in vitro culture methods for plant cell or tissue transformation and regeneration of plants are available. See, for example, Gruber, et al., “Vectors for Plant Transformation” in Methods in Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Glick B. R. and Thompson, J. E. Eds. (CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, 1993) pages 89-119.

One method for introducing an expression vector into plants is based on the natural transformation system of Agrobacterium. See e.g., Horsch, et al., Science 227:1229 (1985). A. tumefaciens and A. rhizogenes are plant pathogenic soil bacteria which genetically transform plant cells. Descriptions of Agrobacterium vector systems and methods for Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer are provided by. for example. U.S. Pat. No. 5,563,055 (Townsend and Thomas), incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Several methods of plant transformation, collectively referred to as direct gene transfer, have been developed as an alternative to Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. A generally applicable method of plant transformation is microprojectile-mediated transformation wherein DNA is carried on the surface of microprojectiles. The expression vector is introduced into plant tissues with a biolistic device that accelerates the microprojectiles to speeds of 300 to 600 m/s which is sufficient to penetrate plant cell walls and membranes.

Another method for physical delivery of DNA to plants is sonication of target cells. Alternatively, liposome and spheroplast fusion have been used to introduce expression vectors into plants. Electroporation of protoplasts and whole cells and tissues can also be used.

Following transformation of corn target tissues, expression of a selectable marker gene allows for preferential selection of transformed cells, tissues and/or plants, using regeneration and selection methods well-known in the art.

The foregoing methods for transformation would typically be used for producing a transgenic variety. The transgenic variety could then be crossed with another (non-transformed or transformed) variety, in order to produce a new transgenic variety. Alternatively, a genetic trait which has been engineered into a particular corn line using the foregoing transformation techniques could be moved into another line using traditional backcrossing techniques that are well-known in the plant breeding arts. For example, a backcrossing approach could be used to move an engineered trait from a public, non-elite variety into an elite variety, or from a variety containing a foreign gene in its genome into a variety or varieties which do not contain that gene.

Corn plants or seeds disclosed herein can also be produced by one or more genome engineering techniques or subject to further genomic editing. For example, one or more brachytic alleles can be introduced into a non-brachytic background. Exemplary genome engineering techniques include meganucleases, Zinc-Finger nuclease, TALENs, and CRISPR-cas9 system. See, e.g., Gaj et al., Trends in Biotechnology, 31(7):397-405 (2013).

Additional Breeding

Corn plants disclosed herein can also be subject to additional breeding using one or more known methods in the art, e.g., pedigree breeding, recurrent selection, mass selection, and mutation breeding. Pedigree breeding starts with the crossing of two genotypes, such as a corn variety comprising a brachytic allele disclosed herein and another corn variety lacking such a allele. If the two original parents do not provide all the desired characteristics, other sources can be included in the breeding population. In the pedigree method, superior plants are selfed and selected in successive filial generations. In the succeeding filial generations the heterozygous condition gives way to homogeneous varieties as a result of self-pollination and selection. Typically in the pedigree method of breeding, five or more successive filial generations of selfing and selection is practiced: F₁ to F₂; F₂ to F₃; F₃ to F₄; F₄ to F₅, etc. After a sufficient amount of inbreeding, successive filial generations will serve to increase seed of the developed variety. The developed variety may comprise homozygous alleles at about 95% or more of its loci.

In addition to being used to create a backcross conversion, backcrossing can also be used in combination with pedigree breeding. As discussed previously, backcrossing can be used to transfer one or more specifically desirable traits from one variety, the donor parent, to a developed variety called the recurrent parent, which has overall good agronomic characteristics yet lacks that desirable trait or traits. However, the same procedure can be used to move the progeny toward the genotype of the recurrent parent but at the same time retain many components of the non-recurrent parent by stopping the backcrossing at an early stage and proceeding with selfing and selection. For example, a corn variety may be crossed with another variety to produce a first generation progeny plant. The first generation progeny plant may then be backcrossed to one of its parent varieties to create a BC1 or BC2. Progeny plants are selfed and selected so that the newly developed variety has many of the attributes of the recurrent parent and yet several of the desired attributes of the non-recurrent parent. This approach leverages the value and strengths of the recurrent parent for use in new corn varieties.

Recurrent selection is a method used in a plant breeding program to improve a population of plants. The method entails individual plants cross pollinating with each other to form progeny. The progeny are grown and the superior progeny selected by any number of selection methods, which include individual plant, half-sib progeny, full-sib progeny and selfed progeny. The selected progeny are cross pollinated with each other to form progeny for another population. This population is planted and again superior plants are selected to cross pollinate with each other. Recurrent selection is a cyclical process and therefore can be repeated as many times as desired. The objective of recurrent selection is to improve the traits of a population. The improved population can then be used as a source of breeding material to obtain new varieties for commercial or breeding use, including the production of a synthetic line. A synthetic line is the resultant progeny formed by the intercrossing of several selected varieties.

Mass selection is another useful technique when used in conjunction with molecular marker enhanced selection. In mass selection seeds from individuals are selected based on phenotype or genotype. These selected seeds are then bulked and used to grow the next generation. Bulk selection requires growing a population of plants in a bulk plot, allowing the plants to self-pollinate, harvesting the seed in bulk and then using a sample of the seed harvested in bulk to plant the next generation. Also, instead of self pollination, directed pollination could be used as part of the breeding program.

Mutation breeding can also be used to introduce new traits into corn plants disclosed herein. Mutations that occur spontaneously or are artificially induced can be useful sources of variability for a plant breeder. The goal of artificial mutagenesis is to increase the rate of mutation for a desired characteristic. Mutation rates can be increased by many different means including temperature, long-term seed storage, tissue culture conditions, radiation; such as X-rays, Gamma rays (e.g. cobalt 60 or cesium 137), neutrons, (product of nuclear fission by uranium 235 in an atomic reactor), Beta radiation (emitted from radioisotopes such as phosphorus 32 or carbon 14), or ultraviolet radiation (from 2500 to 2900 nm), or chemical mutagens (such as base analogues (5-bromo-uracil), related compounds (8-ethoxy caffeine), antibiotics (streptonigrin), alkylating agents (sulfur mustards, nitrogen mustards, epoxides, ethylenamines, sulfates, sulfonates, sulfones, lactones), azide, hydroxylamine, nitrous acid, or acridines. Once a desired trait is observed through mutagenesis the trait may then be incorporated into existing germplasm by traditional breeding techniques.

In some aspects, the instant disclosure provides doubled haploid corn plants and seeds that comprise a brachytic trait or brachytic marker alleles. The doubled haploid (DH) approach achieves isogenic plants in a shorter time frame, and is particularly useful for generating inbred lines and quantitative genetics studies. DH plants can be produced according to methods known in the art. For example, the initial step involves the haploidization of the plant which results in the production of a population comprising haploid seed. Non-homozygous lines are crossed with an inducer parent, resulting in the production of haploid seeds. Seeds that have haploid embryos, but normal triploid endosperm, advance to the second stage. After selecting haploid seeds from the population, the selected seeds undergo chromosome doubling to produce doubled haploid seeds. A spontaneous chromosome doubling in a cell lineage will lead to normal gamete production or the production of unreduced gametes from haploid cell lineages. Application of a chemical compound, such as colchicine, can be used to increase the rate of diploidization. Colchicine binds to tubulin and prevents its polymerization into microtubules, thus arresting mitosis at metaphase, can be used to increase the rate of diploidization, i.e. doubling of the chromosome number. These chimeric plants are self-pollinated to produce diploid (doubled haploid) seed. This DH seed is cultivated and subsequently evaluated and used in hybrid testcross production.

The present disclosure also provides production of hybrid seeds comprising one or more brachytic alleles disclosed here and exhibit a brachytic, dwarf, or semi-dwarf phenotype. The development of a corn hybrid in a corn plant breeding program involves three steps: (1) the selection of plants from various germplasm pools for initial breeding crosses; (2) the selfing of the selected plants from the breeding crosses for several generations to produce a series of inbred lines, which, although different from each other, breed true and are highly uniform; and (3) crossing the selected inbred lines with different inbred lines to produce the hybrids. During the inbreeding process in corn, the vigor of the lines decreases. Vigor is restored when two different inbred lines are crossed to produce the hybrid. An important consequence of the homozygosity and homogeneity of the inbred lines is that the hybrid between a defined pair of inbreds will always be the same. Once the inbreds that give a superior hybrid have been identified, the hybrid seed can be reproduced indefinitely as long as the homogeneity of the inbred parents is maintained.

Combining ability of a line, as well as the performance of the line, is a factor in the selection of improved corn lines that may be used as inbreds for hybrid production. Combining ability refers to a line's contribution as a parent when crossed with other lines to form hybrids. The hybrids formed for the purpose of selecting superior lines are designated test crosses. One way of measuring combining ability is by using breeding values. Breeding values are based on the overall mean of a number of test crosses. This mean is then adjusted to remove environmental effects and it is adjusted for known genetic relationships among the lines.

Hybrid seed production requires inactivation of pollen produced by the female parent. Incomplete inactivation of the pollen provides the potential for self-pollination. This inadvertently self-pollinated seed may be unintentionally harvested and packaged with hybrid seed. Similarly, because the male parent is grown next to the female parent in the field there is also the potential that the male selfed seed could be unintentionally harvested and packaged with the hybrid seed. Once the seed from the hybrid bag is planted, it is possible to identify and select these self-pollinated plants. These self-pollinated plants will be genetically equivalent to one of the inbred lines used to produce the hybrid. Though the possibility of inbreds being included in hybrid seed bags exists, the occurrence is rare because much care is taken to avoid such inclusions. These self-pollinated plants can be identified and selected by one skilled in the art, either through visual or molecular methods.

Marker Detection

The present disclosure also provides novel polymorphic markers from the Br2 genomic region which can be used to select for brachytic corn plants. Exemplary polymorphic markers are shown in Tables 2 and 7 with their brachytic alleles listed. Markers within approximately 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of these exemplary markers can also be identified from the known art and used in the methods disclosed herein.

Genetic markers are distinguishable from each other (as well as from the plurality of alleles of any one particular marker) on the basis of polynucleotide length and/or sequence. In general, any differentially inherited polymorphic trait (including a nucleic acid polymorphism) that segregates among progeny is a potential genetic marker.

As a set, polymorphic markers serve as a useful tool for fingerprinting plants to inform the degree of identity of lines or varieties. These markers can form a basis for determining associations with phenotype and can be used to drive genetic gain. The implementation of marker-assisted selection is dependent on the ability to detect and analyze underlying genetic differences between individuals.

Herein, nucleic acid analysis methods include, but are not limited to, PCR-based detection methods, microarray methods, mass spectrometry-based methods and/or nucleic acid sequencing methods. In one aspect, the detection of polymorphic sites in a sample of DNA, RNA, or cDNA may be facilitated through the use of nucleic acid amplification methods. Such methods specifically increase the concentration of polynucleotides that span the polymorphic site, or include that site and sequences located either distal or proximal to it. Such amplified molecules can be readily detected by gel electrophoresis, fluorescence detection methods, or other means.

A method of achieving such amplification employs the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using primer pairs that are capable of hybridizing to the proximal sequences that define a polymorphism in its double-stranded form. Methods for typing DNA based on mass spectrometry have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,613,509 and 6,503,710, and references found therein.

Polymorphisms in DNA sequences can be detected or typed by a variety of effective methods well known in the art including, but not limited to, those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,468,613, 5,217,863; 5,210,015; 5,876,930; 6,030,787; 6,004,744; 6,013,431; 5,595,890; 5,762,876; 5,945,283; 5,468,613; 6,090,558; 5,800,944; 5,616,464; 7,312,039; 7,238,476; 7,297,485; 7,282,355; 7,270,981 and 7,250,252 all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. However, the compositions and methods of the present disclosure can be used in conjunction with any polymorphism typing method to type polymorphisms in genomic DNA samples. These genomic DNA samples used include but are not limited to genomic DNA isolated directly from a plant or seed, cloned genomic DNA, or amplified genomic DNA.

For instance, polymorphisms in DNA sequences can be detected by hybridization to allele-specific oligonucleotide (ASO) probes as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,468,613 and 5,217,863. U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,613 discloses allele specific oligonucleotide hybridizations where single or multiple nucleotide variations in nucleic acid sequence can be detected in nucleic acids by a process in which the sequence containing the nucleotide variation is amplified, spotted on a membrane and treated with a labeled sequence-specific oligonucleotide probe.

Target nucleic acid sequence can also be detected by probe ligation methods as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,944 where sequence of interest is amplified and hybridized to probes followed by ligation to detect a labeled part of the probe.

Microarrays can also be used for polymorphism detection, wherein oligonucleotide probe sets are assembled in an overlapping fashion to represent a single sequence such that a difference in the target sequence at one point would result in partial probe hybridization (Borevitz et al., Genome Res. 13:513-523 (2003); Cui et al., Bioinformatics 21:3852-3858 (2005)). On any one microarray, it is expected there will be a plurality of target sequences, which may represent genes and/or noncoding regions wherein each target sequence is represented by a series of overlapping oligonucleotides, rather than by a single probe. This platform provides for high throughput screening a plurality of polymorphisms. A single-feature polymorphism (SFP) is a polymorphism detected by a single probe in an oligonucleotide array, wherein a feature is a probe in the array. Typing of target sequences by microarray-based methods is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,799,122; 6,913,879; and 6,996,476.

Target nucleic acid sequence can also be detected by probe linking methods as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,616,464, employing at least one pair of probes having sequences homologous to adjacent portions of the target nucleic acid sequence and having side chains which non-covalently bind to form a stem upon base pairing of the probes to the target nucleic acid sequence. At least one of the side chains has a photoactivatable group which can form a covalent cross-link with the other side chain member of the stem.

Other methods for detecting SNPs and Indels include single base extension (SBE) methods. Examples of SBE methods include, but are not limited, to those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,004,744; 6,013,431; 5,595,890; 5,762,876; and 5,945,283. SBE methods are based on extension of a nucleotide primer that is adjacent to a polymorphism to incorporate a detectable nucleotide residue upon extension of the primer. In certain aspects, the SBE method uses four synthetic oligonucleotides. Two of the oligonucleotides serve as PCR primers and are complementary to sequence of the locus of genomic DNA which flanks a region containing the polymorphism to be assayed. Following amplification of the region of the genome containing the polymorphism, the PCR product is mixed with the third and fourth oligonucleotides (called extension primers) which are designed to hybridize to the amplified DNA adjacent to the polymorphism in the presence of DNA polymerase and two differentially labeled dideoxynucleosidetriphosphates. If the polymorphism is present on the template, one of the labeled dideoxynucleosidetriphosphates can be added to the primer in a single base chain extension. The allele present is then inferred by determining which of the two differential labels was added to the extension primer. Homozygous samples will result in only one of the two labeled bases being incorporated and thus only one of the two labels will be detected. Heterozygous samples have both alleles present, and will thus direct incorporation of both labels (into different molecules of the extension primer) and thus both labels will be detected.

In another method for detecting polymorphisms, SNPs and Indels can be detected by methods disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,210,015; 5,876,930; and 6,030,787 in which an oligonucleotide probe having a 5′ fluorescent reporter dye and a 3′ quencher dye covalently linked to the 5′ and 3′ ends of the probe. When the probe is intact, the proximity of the reporter dye to the quencher dye results in the suppression of the reporter dye fluorescence, e.g. by Forster-type energy transfer. During PCR forward and reverse primers hybridize to a specific sequence of the target DNA flanking a polymorphism while the hybridization probe hybridizes to polymorphism-containing sequence within the amplified PCR product. In the subsequent PCR cycle DNA polymerase with 5′ 4 3′ exonuclease activity cleaves the probe and separates the reporter dye from the quencher dye resulting in increased fluorescence of the reporter.

In another aspect, the locus or loci of interest can be directly sequenced using nucleic acid sequencing technologies. Methods for nucleic acid sequencing are known in the art and include technologies provided by 454 Life Sciences (Branford, Conn.), Agencourt Bioscience (Beverly, Mass.), Applied Biosystems (Foster City, Calif.), LI-COR Biosciences (Lincoln, Nebr.), NimbleGen Systems (Madison, Wis.), Illumina (San Diego, Calif.), and VisiGen Biotechnologies (Houston, Tex.). Such nucleic acid sequencing technologies comprise formats such as parallel bead arrays, sequencing by ligation, capillary electrophoresis, electronic microchips, “biochips,” microarrays, parallel microchips, and single-molecule arrays, as reviewed by Service, Science 311:1544-46 (2006).

In alternative aspects, in silico methods can be used to detect the marker loci of interest. For example, the sequence of a nucleic acid comprising the marker locus of interest can be stored in a computer. The desired marker locus sequence or its homolog can be identified using an appropriate nucleic acid search algorithm as provided by, for example, in such readily available programs as BLAST, or even simple word processors.

Any of the aforementioned marker types can be employed in the context of the disclosure to identify brachytic alleles or brachytic haplotypes associated with brachysm.

The markers to be used in the methods of the present disclosure should preferably be diagnostic of origin in order for inferences to be made about subsequent populations. Experience to date suggests that SNP markers may be ideal for mapping because the likelihood that a particular SNP allele is derived from independent origins in the extant populations of a particular species is very low. As such, SNP markers appear to be useful for tracking and assisting introgression of QTL, particularly in the case of genotypes.

In some aspects, corn genotyping, including SNP detection disclosed herein can be via high throughput, non-destructive seed sampling. In some aspects, haploid seed is sampled in this manner and only seed with at least one marker genotype of interest is advanced for doubling. Apparatus and methods for the high-throughput, non-destructive sampling of seeds have been described which would overcome the obstacles of statistical samples by allowing for individual seed analysis. For example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/213,430 (filed Aug. 26, 2005); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/213,431 (filed Aug. 26, 2005); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/213,432 (filed Aug. 26, 2005); U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/213,434 (filed Aug. 26, 2005); and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/213,435 (filed Aug. 26, 2005), U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/680,611 (filed Mar. 2, 2007), which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, disclose apparatus and systems for the automated sampling of seeds as well as methods of sampling, testing and bulking seeds.

Association Mapping

In one aspect, the present disclosure also provides haplotypes, marker loci, germplasm for conducting genome-wide association mapping. Exemplary marker loci and brachytic alleles are listed in Table 2. Genome-wide association mapping is conducted to find signals of association for various complex traits by surveying genetic variation in the whole genome. Association mapping relies on chromosomal recombination opportunities over a large number of generations, in the history of a species, which allows the removal of association between a QTL and any marker not tightly linked to it, thus improving the rate of discovery of true association (Jannink and Walsh, Quantitative Genetics, Genomics and Plant Breeding, Kang, Ed. CAB International, (2002) pp. 59-68).

An approach used to link phenotypic variation with genetic loci is marker-trait association (MTA) mapping, also known as linkage disequilibrium (LD) mapping. LD mapping emerged as an important gene mapping tool in early 1990's with the advent of high-throughput genotyping technology, and has been widely used in human genetics to identify genes affecting human diseases. This approach was introduced and began to be adopted in plant gene mapping studies in early 2000's (Flint-Garcia et al. (2003) Annu Rev Plant Biol 54: 357-374).

LD mapping assumes that the main cause for LD is linkage that binds loci on the same chromosome together in transmission to next generation. However, due to recombination events accumulated over many generations in a natural population, each chromosome has been shuffled deeply, so that the chromosome has been broken into many tiny regions where loci remain transmitted together, but loci from different regions tend to transmit independently as if they were from different chromosomes. Chromosomal regions where loci are bound together in transmission are commonly known as LD blocks (Reich et al. (2001) Nature 411:199-204). LD mapping identifies genes of interest through genetic markers on the LD blocks where the genes are located. This is done by detecting significant associations between the markers and the traits that the genes affect with a sample of unrelated individuals or a sample of unrelated pedigrees that are genotyped on a selected set of markers covering candidate gene regions or the whole genome, and phenotyped on a set of traits of interest.

Compared with traditional linkage mapping methods that are typically based on artificial biparental segregating populations (e.g., F2, BC, DH, RIL, etc.), LD mapping generally produces better mapping resolution, because of the smaller sizes of LD blocks. In addition, LD mapping is useful in identifying more than two functional alleles at associated markers in a germplasm. Further, LD mapping is efficient for evaluating natural populations.

Identification of QTL

In some aspects, markers, alleles, and haplotypes provided herein can be used for identifying QTLs associated with corn plant height and plant architecture. The statistical principles of QTL identification include penalized regression analysis, ridge regression, single point marker analysis, complex pedigree analysis, Bayesian MCMC, identity-by-descent analysis, interval mapping, composite interval mapping (CIM), and Haseman-Elston regression.

SNP markers are ideal for mapping because the likelihood that a particular SNP allele is derived from independent origins in the extant populations of a particular species is very low. As such, SNP markers are useful for tracking and assisting introgression of QTLs, particularly in the case of haplotypes.

The genetic linkage of additional marker molecules can be established by a gene mapping model such as, without limitation, the flanking marker model reported by Lander and Botstein, Genetics, 121:185-199 (1989), and the interval mapping, based on maximum likelihood methods described by Lander and Botstein, Genetics, 121:185-199 (1989), and implemented in the software package MAPMAKER/QTL (Lincoln and Lander, Mapping Genes Controlling Quantitative Traits Using MAPMAKER/QTL, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts, (1990). Additional software includes Qgene, Version 2.23 (1996), Department of Plant Breeding and Biometry, 266 Emerson Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., the manual of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety).

A maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) for the presence of a marker is calculated, together with an MLE assuming no QTL effect, to avoid false positives. A log₁₀ of an odds ratio (LOD) is then calculated as: LOD=log₁₀ (MLE for the presence of a QTL/MLE given no linked QTL). The LOD score essentially indicates how much more likely the data are to have arisen assuming the presence of a QTL versus in its absence. The LOD threshold value for avoiding a false positive with a given confidence, say 95%, depends on the number of markers and the length of the genome. Graphs indicating LOD thresholds are set forth in Lander and Botstein, Genetics, 121:185-199 (1989), and further described by Arús and Moreno-Gonzalez, Plant Breeding, Hayward, Bosemark, Romagosa (eds.) Chapman & Hall, London, pp. 314-331 (1993).

Additional models can be used. Many modifications and alternative approaches to interval mapping have been reported, including the use of non-parametric methods (Kruglyak and Lander, Genetics, 139:1421-1428 (1995), the entirety of which is herein incorporated by reference). Multiple regression methods or models can be also be used, in which the trait is regressed on a large number of markers (Jansen, Biometrics in Plant Breed, van Oijen, Jansen (eds.) Proceedings of the Ninth Meeting of the Eucarpia Section Biometrics in Plant Breeding, The Netherlands, pp. 116-124 (1994); Weber and Wricke, Advances in Plant Breeding, Blackwell, Berlin, 16 (1994)). Procedures combining interval mapping with regression analysis, whereby the phenotype is regressed onto a single putative QTL at a given marker interval, and at the same time onto a number of markers that serve as ‘cofactors,’ have been reported by Jansen and Stam, Genetics, 136:1447-1455 (1994) and Zeng, Genetics, 136:1457-1468 (1994). Generally, the use of cofactors reduces the bias and sampling error of the estimated QTL positions (Utz and Melchinger, Biometrics in Plant Breeding, van Oijen, Jansen (eds.) Proceedings of the Ninth Meeting of the Eucarpia Section Biometrics in Plant Breeding, The Netherlands, pp. 195-204 (1994), thereby improving the precision and efficiency of QTL mapping (Zeng, Genetics, 136:1457-1468 (1994)). These models can be extended to multi-environment experiments to analyze genotype-environment interactions (Jansen et al., Theo. Appl. Genet. 91:33-37 (1995).

The compositions and methods of the present disclosure can be utilized to guide MAS or breeding corn varieties with a desired complement (set) of allelic forms of associated with superior agronomic performance (e.g. brachysm or dwarfism). Any of the disclosed marker alleles can be introduced into a corn line via introgression, by traditional breeding (or introduced via transformation, or both) to yield a corn plant with superior agronomic performance.

These marker loci can be introgressed into any desired genomic background, germplasm, plant, line, variety, etc., as part of an overall MAS breeding program designed to improve corn architecture and enhance corn yield.

The present disclosure also extends to a method of making a progeny corn plant and the resulting progeny corn plants. In one aspect, the method comprises crossing a first parent corn plant with a second corn plant and growing the corn plant parent under plant growth conditions to yield corn plant progeny. Methods of crossing and growing corn plants are well within the ability of those of ordinary skill in the art. Such corn plant progeny can be assayed for brachytic alleles as disclosed herein and, thereby, the desired progeny selected. Such progeny plants or seed thereof can be sold commercially for corn production, used for food, processed to obtain a desired constituent of the corn, or further utilized in subsequent rounds of breeding. At least one of the first or second corn plants may be a corn plant of the present disclosure in that it comprises at least one of the allelic forms of the markers of the present disclosure, such that the progeny are capable of inheriting the allele.

Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) Breeding

Polymorphic markers and their brachytic alleles provided herein can be used in MAS breeding of brachytic corn. In some aspects, polymorphic markers disclosed herein are within the coding sequence of a causative gene. They are ideal for MAS as no recombination is expected between them and the sequence of DNA responsible for the phenotype. Markers do not need to contain or correspond to causal mutations in order to be effective in MAS.

Developing molecular markers in crop species can increase efficiency in plant breeding through MAS. Genetic markers are used to identify plants that contain a desired genotype at one or more loci, and that are expected to transfer the desired genotype, along with a desired phenotype to their progeny. Genetic markers can be used to identify plants containing a desired genotype at one locus, or at several unlinked or linked loci (e.g., a haplotype), and that would be expected to transfer the desired genotype, along with a desired phenotype to their progeny. The present disclosure provides the means to identify plants that harbor a brachytic allele and therefore are brachytic or can give rise to brachytic plants.

Identification of plants or germplasm that include a marker locus or marker loci linked to a desired trait or traits provides a basis for performing MAS. Plants that comprise favorable markers or favorable alleles are selected for, while plants that comprise markers or alleles that are negatively correlated with the desired trait can be selected against. Desired markers and/or alleles can be introgressed into plants having a desired (e.g., elite or exotic) genetic background to produce an introgressed plant or germplasm having the desired trait. In some aspects, it is contemplated that a plurality of markers for desired traits are sequentially or simultaneous selected and/or introgressed. The combinations of markers that are selected for in a single plant is not limited, and can include any combination of markers disclosed herein or any marker linked to the markers disclosed herein, or any markers located within the QTL intervals defined herein.

In some aspects, a first corn plant or germplasm exhibiting a desired trait (the donor, e.g., a brachytic corn) can be crossed with a second corn plant or germplasm (the recipient, e.g., an elite or exotic corn, depending on characteristics that are desired in the progeny) to create an introgressed corn plant or germplasm as part of a breeding program. In some aspects, the recipient plant can also contain one or more loci associated with one or more desired traits, which can be qualitative or quantitative trait loci. In another aspect, the recipient plant can contain a transgene.

In some aspects, the recipient corn plant or germplasm will typically lack desired traits as compared to the first corn plant or germplasm, while the introgressed corn plant or germplasm will display improved traits as compared to the second plant or germplasm. An introgressed corn plant or germplasm produced by these methods are also a feature of this disclosure.

MAS is a powerful shortcut to select for desired phenotypes and for introgressing desired traits into cultivars (e.g., introgressing desired traits into elite lines). MAS is easily adapted to high throughput molecular analysis methods that can quickly screen large numbers of plant or germplasm genetic material for the markers of interest and is much more cost effective than cultivating and observing plants for visible traits. Introgression of a brachytic trait Using MAS

The instant disclosure provides methods and markers for introgressing a brachytic trait into a new corn variety using MAS. Multiple methods are available to achieve the introgression. For example, introgression of a desired allele at a specified locus can be transmitted to at least one progeny via a cross between two parents of the same species, where at least one of the parents has the desired allele in its genome. Alternatively, for example, transmission of an allele can occur by recombination between two donor genomes, e.g., in a fused protoplast, where at least one of the donor protoplasts has the desired allele in its genome. The desired allele can be, e.g., a selected allele of a marker, a QTL, a transgene, or the like. In any case, offspring comprising the desired allele can be repeatedly backcrossed to a line having a desired genetic background and selected for the desired allele, to result in the allele becoming fixed in a selected genetic background.

The introgression of one or more desired loci from a donor line into another line is achieved via repeated backcrossing to a recurrent parent accompanied by selection to retain one or more loci from the donor parent. Markers associated with a brachytic trait are assayed in progeny and those progeny with one or more desired markers are selected for advancement. In another aspect, one or more markers can be assayed in the progeny to select for plants with the genotype of the agronomically elite parent.

It is generally anticipated that trait introgression activities will require more than one generation, wherein progeny are crossed to the recurrent (agronomically elite) parent or selfed. Selections are made based on the presence of one or more markers linked to the brachytic trait and can also be made based on the recurrent parent genotype, wherein screening is performed on a genetic marker and/or phenotype basis. In another aspect, markers of this disclosure can be used in conjunction with other markers, ideally at least one on each chromosome of the corn genome, to track the introgression of the brachytic trait into elite germplasm. It is within the scope of this disclosure to utilize the methods and compositions for integration of a brachytic trait. It is contemplated by the inventors that the present disclosure will be useful for developing commercial varieties with a brachytic trait and other agronomically elite phenotypes.

Listed below are exemplary embodiments of the instant disclosure.

Embodiment 1

A method for selecting a corn plant or seed, said method comprising:

-   -   a. detecting in a population of corn plants or seeds a corn         plant or seed comprising a brachytic allele at a polymorphic         locus, wherein said polymorphic locus is associated with a         marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22         and 86-109; and     -   b. selecting said corn plant or seed comprising said brachytic         allele.

Embodiment 2

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said polymorphic locus is within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of said marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109.

Embodiment 3

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said polymorphic locus is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109.

Embodiment 4

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said polymorphic locus is in linkage disequilibrium with said marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109, and exhibits a LOD score of 2 or greater, 3 or greater, 4 or greater, 5 or greater, 6 or greater, 7 or greater, 8 or greater, or 9 or greater.

Embodiment 5

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said method comprises crossing a first corn plant comprising said brachytic allele with a second corn plant to produce said population of corn plants or seeds.

Embodiment 6

The method of Embodiment 5, wherein said method further comprises backcrossing with said second corn plant.

Embodiment 7

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said population of corn plants or seeds is a segregating population.

Embodiment 8

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said population of corn plants or seeds is a haploid breeding population.

Embodiment 9

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said step (a) comprises a marker assay.

Embodiment 10

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said step (a) comprises the use of one or more primers selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 23 and 24.

Embodiment 11

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said step (a) comprises the use of one or more probes selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 25 and 26.

Embodiment 12

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said selected plant or seed is homozygous for said brachytic allele.

Embodiment 13

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said selected plant or seed is heterozygous for said brachytic allele.

Embodiment 14

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said selected plant or seed is an inbred.

Embodiment 15

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said selected plant or seed is a hybrid.

Embodiment 16

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said selected plant or seed is in an agronomically elite background.

Embodiment 17

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said selected plant is dwarf.

Embodiment 18

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said selected plant is semi-dwarf.

Embodiment 19

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said selected plant is brachytic.

Embodiment 20

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said selected plant or seed comprising a single gene conversion of the Br2 genomic region.

Embodiment 21

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said population of corn plants or seeds are from one or more landraces.

Embodiment 22

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said selected plant or seed comprises a reduced level of Br2 mRNA or protein compared to a control plant not having said brachytic allele.

Embodiment 23

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said selected plant or seed comprises reduced Br2 protein activity compared to a control plant not having said brachytic allele.

Embodiment 24

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein the height of said selected plant at maturity is reduced for about 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, or 70% compared to a control plant not having said brachytic allele.

Embodiment 25

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein the yield of said selected plant is equal to or more than the yield of a control plant not having said brachytic allele.

Embodiment 26

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said selected plant requires about 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, or 25% fewer heat units than a control non-brachytic plant to reach anthesis.

Embodiment 27

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said selected plant has a relative maturity of about 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, or 45% fewer days than the relative maturity of a control non-brachytic plant.

Embodiment 28

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said brachytic allele predicts a brachytic trait with a accuracy of at least about 50%, 60%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 99%, or 100%.

Embodiment 29

A method for selecting a corn plant or seed, said method comprising:

-   -   a. genotyping a population of corn plants or seeds at a         polymorphic locus associated with a marker selected from the         group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109; and     -   b. selecting a corn plant or seed comprising a brachytic allele         at said polymorphic locus.

Embodiment 30

The method of Embodiment 29, wherein said polymorphic locus is within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of said marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109.

Embodiment 31

The method of Embodiment 29, wherein said polymorphic locus is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109.

Embodiment 32

A method of creating a population of corn plants comprising at least one allele associated with a brachytic trait, said method comprising the steps of:

-   -   a. genotyping a first population of corn plants, said population         containing at least one allele associated with a brachytic         trait, wherein said at least one brachytic allele is associated         with a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos:         1-22 and 86-109;     -   b. selecting from said first population one or more corn plants         containing said at least one brachytic allele; and     -   c. producing from said selected corn plants a second population,         thereby creating a population of corn plants comprising said at         least one brachytic allele.

Embodiment 33

The method of Embodiment 32, wherein said at least one brachytic allele is within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of said marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109.

Embodiment 34

The method of Embodiment 32, wherein said at least one brachytic allele is at a marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109.

Embodiment 35

A method for selecting a corn plant or seed, said method comprising:

-   -   a. isolating a nucleic acid from a corn plant or seed;     -   b. analyzing said nucleic acid to detect a polymorphic marker         associated with a brachytic haplotype, said brachytic haplotype         comprises one or more, two or more, three or more, four or more,         five or more, six or more, seven or more, or eight or more         brachytic alleles of markers selected from the group consisting         of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109; and     -   c. selecting a corn plant or seed comprising said brachytic         haplotype.

Embodiment 36

The method of Embodiment 35, wherein said polymorphic marker is within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of said brachytic haplotype.

Embodiment 37

The method of Embodiment 35, wherein said polymorphic marker is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109.

Embodiment 38

A method for introgressing a brachytic trait into a corn variety, said method comprising:

-   -   a. crossing a first corn variety comprising a brachytic trait         with a second corn variety not comprising said brachytic trait         to produce one or more progeny corn plants;     -   b. analyzing said one or more progeny corn plants to detect a         brachytic allele, wherein said brachytic allele is linked to a         marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22         and 86-109; and     -   c. selecting a progeny corn plant comprising said brachytic         allele.

Embodiment 39

The method of Embodiment 38, wherein said brachytic allele is within about 20 cM, 10 cM, 5 cM, 1 cM, 0.5 cM, or less than 0.5 cM of said marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109.

Embodiment 40

The method of Embodiment 39, wherein said brachytic allele is at said marker selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 and 86-109.

Embodiment 41

The method of Embodiment 39, further comprising:

-   -   d. crossing said selected progeny plant with itself or with said         second corn plant to produce one or more further progeny corn         plants; and     -   e. selecting a further progeny plant comprising said brachytic         allele.

Embodiment 42

The method of Embodiment 41, wherein step (e) of selecting comprises marker-assisted selection.

Embodiment 43

A hybrid dwarf or semi-dwarf corn variety, or a plant part thereof, comprising a brachytic allele characterizable by one or more sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 27-48.

Embodiment 44

The hybrid dwarf or semi-dwarf corn variety, or a plant part thereof, of claim 43, wherein said variety is homozygous for said brachytic allele.

Embodiment 45

The hybrid dwarf or semi-dwarf corn variety, or a plant part thereof, of claim 43, wherein said variety is transgenic.

Embodiment 46

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said method further comprises genotyping said population of corn plants or seeds at one or more polymorphic sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 71-75.

Embodiment 47

The method of Embodiment 1, wherein said step (a) further comprising detecting a brachytic allele at a polymorphic locus selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 71-75.

Embodiment 48

The method of Embodiment 29, wherein said method further comprises genotyping said population of corn plants or seeds at one or more polymorphic sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 71-75.

Embodiment 49

The method of Embodiment 29, wherein said method further comprises selecting a corn plant or seed comprising a brachytic allele selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 76-80.

Embodiment 50

The method of Embodiment 32, wherein said method further comprises genotyping said first population of corn plants at one or more polymorphic sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 71-75.

Embodiment 51

The method of Embodiment 32, wherein step (a) of said method further comprising genotyping for at least one brachytic allele selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 76-80.

Embodiment 52

The method of Embodiment 35, wherein said method further comprises analyzing said nucleic acid to detect one or more polymorphic sequences selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 71-75.

Embodiment 53

The method of Embodiment 35, wherein step (b) of said method further comprising analyzing said nucleic acid to detect at least one brachytic allele selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID Nos: 76-80.

Examples Example 1. Sequencing of the Br2 Genomic Region in a Panel of Both Brachytic and Non-Brachytic Plants

Targeted sequencing of the Br2 genomic region is conducted in a collection of 23 proprietary maize inbred lines (Table 1). This collection of lines is hereafter referred to as the BR2P_v1 panel. The panel comprises four brachytic lines from North America, six brachytic lines from Mexico, two brachytic lines from Italy, and one brachytic line with an unknown origin. Both the North American and Mexican inbred lines are derived from a brachytic germplasm source which originated from Brazil. The Italian inbred lines come from an independent European brachytic germplasm source. The panel also comprises ten non-brachytic lines from these same regions for comparison.

Multani et al. identified the genomic sequence of the Br2 gene and deposited it under GenBank Accession No. AY366085. See Science, 302(5642)81-84 (2003). Br2 was annotated to encode a putative protein similar to adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-binding cassette transporters of the multidrug resistant (MDR) class of β-glycoproteins (PGPs). Internal contig sequences from the genomic region containing the Br2 gene are analyzed and designated as Mon B73 in Table 1.

To sequence the Br2 genomic region, 16 sets of primers are designed through alignment of Mon B73 sequence of the Br2 gene using DNAStar. These primers can amplify the entire Br2 genomic gene including a 1 kb upstream flanking sequence and a 2 kb downstream flanking sequence (about 11,000 bp in total). PCR amplification is performed using genomic DNA extracted from each line in the BR2P_v1 panel. PCR thermocycling conditions include 30 seconds at 98° C., 35 cycles of 5 seconds at 98° C., 5 seconds of 60° C., 15 seconds of 72° C., 1.0 minute at 72° C. For a 50 μl volume of PCR reaction, 10 ng/μ1 of genomic DNA, 10 μM of each primer (forward and reverse), and 1× Phire Hot Start II DNA Polymerase PCR Mix (Thermo Scientific) are used. PCR products are then cleaned up with ExoSap protocol (Affymetrix) and submitted for Sanger sequencing. Sequence Contigs are assembled using SeqMan Pro into complete Br2 genomic sequences for the subsequent polymorphism identification.

TABLE 1 Reference lines and the BR2P_v1 panel used for targeted sequencing of the Br2 (PGP1) genomic region Brachytic Sample ID Origin Status Gender Panel MON_B73 na BR2* not Reference applicable AY366085_B73 na BR2 not Reference applicable MPL1 North America br2** F BR2P_v1 MPL2 North America br2 M BR2P_v1 MPL3 North America br2 F BR2P_v1 MPL4 North America br2 M BR2P_v1 MPL5 Mexico br2 F BR2P_v1 MPL6 Mexico br2 M BR2P_v1 MPL7 Mexico br2 F BR2P_v1 MPL8 Mexico br2 F BR2P_v1 MPL9 Mexico br2 M BR2P_v1 MPL10 Mexico br2 M BR2P_v1 MPL11 Italy br2 F BR2P_v1 MPL12 Italy br2 M BR2P_v1 MPL13 na† br2 na BR2P_v1 I294213 North America BR2 F BR2P_v1 I285291 North America BR2 M BR2P_v1 CV995128 North America BR2 F BR2P_v1 CV760185 North America BR2 M BR2P_v1 MPL14 Mexico BR2 F BR2P_v1 MPL15 Mexico BR2 F BR2P_v1 MPL16 Mexico BR2 M BR2P_v1 MPL17 Mexico BR2 M BR2P_v1 MPL18 Italy BR2 M BR2P_v1 MPL19 Italy BR2 F BR2P_v1 *BR2: non-brachytic phenotype; **br2: brachytic phenotype; †na: not available; I294213 (see U.S. Pat. No. 7,166,779); I285291 (see U.S. Pat. No. 7,211,717); CV995128 (see U.S. Pat. No. 8,319,066); CV760185 (see U.S. Pat. No. 8,581,076); “Gender” denotes which way the line is used in hybrid make-up combinations; M (Male); F (Female).

Example 2. Identification of New Br2 Polymorphisms

In addition to the Br2 genomic region, sequence data are also collected from the BR2P_v1 panel for a downstream region of the Br2 gene. Sequence polymorphisms are identified base on the Br2 genomic and downstream sequences obtained from the BR2P_v1 panel. In total, 190 polymorphisms are identified including both SNPs and INDELs. A polymorphism is defined as a difference in the DNA sequence between any of the 23 sequenced lines compared to the reference sequence (MON_B73 or AY366085) or between any of the lines compared to each other in the BR2P_v1 panel. Depending on the location of the polymorphism, any amino acid changes resulted from the polymorphisms are also determined.

The 190 identified polymorphisms are analyzed for their concordance with the brachytic phenotype. Among them, polymorphisms shown in SEQ ID Nos: 1-22 are fully concordant with the brachytic phenotype in the Mexican and North American lines in the BR2P_v1 panel (Table 2). Concordance is defined as all brachytic lines from Mexico and North America have one allele from the listed polymorphisms and all other lines have a different allele.

Pilu et al. previously reported a br2-23 allele having an 8-bp deletion in the 3′ end of the Br2 gene and asserted a direct relationship between this deletion and the brachytic phenotype in their br2-23 plants. See Pilu et al., Molecular Breeding, 20:83-91(2007); see also, Cassani et al., Plant Growth Regul., 64(2):185-92 (2011). The same 8-bp deletion is present in the BR2P_v1 panel, which is designated as “the 8-bp deletion” here. The 8-bp deletion starts at position 4148 in the Br2 mRNA sequence based on the AY366085 genomic sequence reference. Without the 8-bp deletion, the Br2 (PGP1) protein has amino acid residues N-G-W (Asparagine-Glycine-Tryptophan) from the affected codons. Although the 8-bp deletion causes a frame shift, the new sequence still codes for a N (Asparagine) and followed by G-W (Glycine-Tryptophan). This is because the deleted 8-bp sequence is part of a small tetranucleotide repeat, resulting in repeated amino acid residues in the protein. Due to the frame shift, the 8-bp deletion is predicted to lead to the removal of three amino acids from the translated Br2 protein. However, it is unclear what impact, if any, the missing amino acids may have on Br2 protein functions.

Contrary to what Pilu et al. described, the 8-bp deletion in BR2P_v1 panel is not concordant with the brachytic phenotype. This deletion is however concordant with the non-brachytic male lines that originate from North America, Mexico, and Italy (highlighted with bold text in Table 3). This suggests that there is no direct relationship between the 8-bp deletion alone and the brachytic phenotype.

TABLE 2 Polymorphisms concordant with the brachytic phenotype. Sample Sample Brachytic Sample Marker Polymorphism Brachytic Allele Non-Brachytic (SEQ ID) Start* Position* End* Allele (SEQ ID) Allele 1 202337238 202337309 202337380 T 27 G 2 202337242 202337213 202337384 T 28 G 3 202337247 202337218 202337389 G 29 A 4 202337248 202337219-202337222 202337393 — 30 TATA 5 202337294 202337363-202337365 202337436 — 31 GAA 6 202337299 202337368 202337439 G 32 A 7 202337336 202337407 202337478 T 33 G 8 202337562 202337633-202337638 202337705 GTCCGT 34 — 9 202337578 202337643-202337644 202337713 GG 35 — 10 202337582 202337645-202337646 202337717 TA 36 — 11 202337587 202337648 202337719 A 37 C 12 202343446 202343515 202343586 T 38 C 13 202343474 202343545 202343616 T 39 G 14 202343637 202343708 202343779 G 40 A 15 202343694 202343765 202343836 G 41 C 16 202343695 202343766 202343837 A 42 C 17 202343696 202343767 202343838 C 43 T 18 202343697 202343768 202343839 G 44 C 19 202343698 202343769 202343840 C 45 G 20 202343700 202343771 202343842 T 46 A 21 202343701 202343772 202343843 C 47 A 22 202343702 202343773-202343776 202343847 CTCG 48 — Sample Non-Brachytic Marker Allele Polymorphism AY366085 Br2 Exon/ mRNA (SEQ ID) (SEQ ID) Type Position Intron Position 1 49 SNP 2375 Intron3 na 2 50 SNP 2379 Intron3 na 3 51 SNP 2384 Intron3 na 4 52 INDEL 2385-2388 Intron3 na 5 53 INDEL 2429-2431 Intron3 na 6 54 SNP 2434 Intron3 na 7 55 SNP 2473 Exon4 1560 8 56 INDEL 2698-2699 Intron4 na 9 57 INDEL 2708-2709 Intron4 na 10 58 INDEL 2710-2711 Intron4 na 11 59 SNP 2714 Intron4 na 12 60 SNP na downstream of Br2 na 13 61 SNP na downstream of Br2 na 14 62 SNP na downstream of Br2 na 15 63 SNP na downstream of Br2 na 16 64 SNP na downstream of Br2 na 17 65 SNP na downstream of Br2 na 18 66 SNP na downstream of Br2 na 19 67 SNP na downstream of Br2 na 20 68 SNP na downstream of Br2 na 21 69 SNP na downstream of Br2 na 22 70 INDEL na downstream of Br2 na *Physical Position on Public B73 RefGen_v3 Map (bp); SNP = single nucleotide polymorphism; INDEL = insertion deletion polymorphism; bp = base pair of Arizona Genomics Institute B73 RefGen_v3 sequence; na: not available

TABLE 3 A survey of the 8-bp deletion in the BR2P_v1 panel. Sample ID 8-bp deletion Brachytic_Status MON_B73 no deletion BR2 AY366085 no deletion BR2 MPL1 no deletion br2 MPL2 no deletion br2 MPL3 no deletion br2 MPL4 no deletion br2 MPL5 no deletion br2 MPL6 no deletion br2 MPL7 no deletion br2 MPL8 no deletion br2 MPL9 no deletion br2 MPL10 no deletion br2 MPL11 no deletion br2 MPL12 no deletion br2 MPL13 no deletion br2 I294213 no deletion BR2 I285291 deletion BR2 CV995128 no deletion BR2 CV760185 deletion BR2 MPL14 no deletion BR2 MPL15 no deletion BR2 MPL16 deletion BR2 MPL17 deletion BR2 MPL18 deletion BR2 MPL19 no deletion BR2

Example 3. Predictive Power of the Polymorphic Marker SEQ ID 7

SEQ ID 7 provides a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in Br2 Exon 4 having a brachytic allele (the T allele) and a non-brachytic allele (the G allele). This SNP is at position 1560 of the mRNA sequence for Br2 (PGP1) based on AY366085 and corresponds to the 520th amino acid residue of the protein. This SNP results in a synonymous substitution as both alleles provide a codon for a Leucine (Table 4).

Mexican and North American lines with brachytic phenotype in the BR2P_v1 panel carry a brachytic allele of SEQ ID 7 (the T allele). The non-brachytic lines carry a non-brachytic allele (the G allele). The brachytic trait is recessive. The association between SEQ ID 7 and brachysm was further tested with additional corn varieties not present in the BR2P_v1 panel. SEQ ID 7 is 100% accurate for predicting brachysm in North American lines (n=20) and 98% accurate in Mexican lines (n=47). SEQ ID 7 is 50% accurate for predicting brachysm in Italian lines (n=14) (Table 5). These results show that SEQ ID 7 is highly associated with the brachytic trait in Mexican and North American lines, but less so in Italian lines.

TABLE 4 Primers and probes for detecting polymorphism SEQ ID 7. SEQ Chromo- Forward Primer Reverse Primer br2 Probe Br2 Probe ID some (SEQ ID) (SEQ ID) (SEQ ID) (SEQ ID) 7 1 GATGAAGTCT GCTCACCAGC CCGTCCAG CGTCCAGCAG GCAATTCGGT CCGATCTG AAGGATT GATT TTTGG (SEQ ID 24) (SEQ ID 25) (SEQ ID 26) (SEQ ID 23) T = brachytic (br2); G = non-brachytic (Br2)

Example 4. Intron Splicing Analysis

SEQ ID 7 has been validated on a panel of brachytic and non-brachytic material from Mexico and found to be 96% predictive of the brachytic phenotype. Since several non-brachytic Mexican lines in the validation panel are genotyped with the brachytic TT allele, there are likely additional polymorphisms with functional effects on the brachytic trait in those lines. The other 10 polymorphisms that are fully concordant with the brachytic phenotype in the BR2P_v1 panel are located in Intron 3 and Intron 4. This suggests that these polymorphisms may impact intron/exon splice junctions and thus alter mRNA processing.

VISTA-Point (available at webpage pipeline.lbl.gov/cgi-bin/gateway2) is used to find islands of intronic conservation in pairwise comparisons within monocots. Splice site motifs, branch points, and conserved regions of the PGP1 gene based on AY366085 sequence are identified. Marker SEQ ID 8 contains a 5′-GTCCGT-3′ insertion at the start of Intron 4 and at the last nucleotide of a putative splice site. This insertion sequence includes the consensus splice site nucleotides “GTNNGT” (Reddy et al., Annu. Rev. Plant Biol. 58:267-94(2007)). The proximity of this insertion to the 3′ end of Exon 4 and to the likely splice site indicates a high probability of functionality.

TABLE 5 Characterization of SEQ ID 7 accuracy. North America # of Lines Brachytic 10 Non-Brachytic 10 Non- Brachytic Brachytic TT 10   0 GG 0 10 False Positive 0% False Negative 0% Overall Accuracy 100%  (10 + 10)/(10 + 10) × 100% = 100% Mexico # of Lines Brachytic 39 Non-Brachytic  8 Non- Brachytic Brachytic TT 38 1 GG  0 8 False Positive 2% False Negative 0% Overall Accuracy 98%  (38 + 8)/(39 + 8) × 100% = 98% Italy # of Lines Brachytic 8 Non-Brachytic 6 Non- Brachytic Brachytic TT 1 0 GG 7 6 False Positive  0% False Negative 50% Overall Accuracy 50% (1 + 6)/(8 + 6) × 100% = 50%

TABLE 6 Further validation of SEQ ID 7 accuracy for predicting the brachytic trait in lines of north America or Mexico origin. North America # of Lines Brachytic 49 Non-Brachytic 69 Non- Brachytic Brachytic TT 49  0 TG 0 0 GG 0 69 Missing 0 0 False Positive 0% False Negative 0% Overall Accuracy 100%  (49 + 69)/(49 + 69) × 100% = 100% Mexico # of Lines Brachytic 41 Non-Brachytic 242  Non- Brachytic Brachytic TT 41  11 TG 0 1 GG 0 223 Missing 0 7 False Positive 5% False Negative 0% Overall Accuracy 96%  (41 + 223)/(41 + 242 − 7) × 100% = 96%

Example 5: Introgression of a Br2 Brachytic Allele to Produce a New Brachytic Variety

A corn plant comprising a brachytic allele disclosed herein is crossed with another non-brachytic corn line comprising a desirable trait (e.g., improved yield under drought, cold, heat stress conditions). F₁ progeny plants from this cross is assayed for one or more SNP markers exemplified in Table 2 to select for the brachytic allele. A selected F₁ progeny plant is then backcrossed with the parent non-brachytic corn line comprising the desirable trait (recurrent parent). Plants from the BC1 generation are also genotyped using SNP markers exemplified in Table 2 to select for the brachytic allele. After multiple rounds of backcrossing (e.g., 5-7 generations), a new brachytic corn line is obtained comprising the desirable trait in the recurrent parent elite line.

Example 6: Additional Br2 Polymorphisms in Exon 5

Additional Br2 polymorphisms are identified in exon 5 of the Br2 coding sequence. These polymorphic sequences are listed in Table 7. Markers are developed from these polymorphisms and are used to monitor a brachytic trait by themselves or in combination with one or more polymorphisms listed in Table 2.

TABLE 7 Additional polymorphisms identified in exon 5 of the Br2 coding sequence. Sample Sample Sample Brachytic Sample Non-Brachytic Marker Brachytic Allele Non-Brachytic Allele Polymorphism AY366085 Br2 Exon/ mRNA (SEQ ID) Allele (SEQ ID) Allele (SEQ ID) Type Position¹ Intron Position² 71 A 76 C 81 SNP 4505 Exon 5 1992 72 G 77 C 82 SNP 4985 Exon 5 2472 73 C 78 A 83 SNP 5027 Exon 5 2514 74 T 79 G 84 SNP 5245 Exon 5 2732 75 G 80 C 85 SNP 5306 Exon 5 2793 ¹Genomic position on AY366085, starting with the first nucleotide of the coding region and including introns. ²mRNA position starting with the first nucleotide of the coding region and not including introns.

Example 7: Additional Br2 Polymorphisms and Markers for Mexican and North American Lines

Further sequencing of the BR2P_v1 panel in Table 1 reveals more Br2 polymorphic sequences and also provides updated sequence information for polymorphisms identified previously. These new polymorphic sequences and markers, including their exemplary brachytic and non-brachytic alleles are listed in Table 8. Table 8's polymorphisms are fully concordant with the brachytic phenotype in the Mexican and North American lines in the BR2P_v1 panel.

TABLE 8 Polymorphisms concordant with the brachytic phenotype in Mexican and North American lines. Marker Poly- Sample Sample Poly- mRNA (SEQ morphism Brachytic Non-Brachytic morphism AY366085 Br2 Exon/ Posi- ID) Start* Position* End* Allele Allele Type Position Intron tion 86 202337238 202337309- 202337380 — GATAGA INDEL 2375-2380 Intron3 na 202337314 87 202337248 202337222- 202337393 TG — INDEL 2388-2389 Intron3 na 202337223 88 202337578 202337643- 202337717 GGTA — INDEL 2708-2711 Intron4 na 202337646 89 202337815 202337885- 202337960 — GTTGTT INDEL 2951-2956 Intron4 na 202337890 90 202337815 202337891 202337960 T G SNP 2957 Intron4 na 91 202337953 202338011- 202338055 TT — INDEL 3077-3078 Intron4 na 202338012 92 202340996 202341061- 202341127 multi-kilobase — INDEL 6127-6128 Exon5 3551- 202341062 insertion 3552 (SEQ ID No. 111) 93 202339026 202339076- 202339210 — TTGCCAAGCAATGCT INDEL 4143-4227 Intron4 na 202339160 CGCATGCCCATGCAT GCATCATCCCTGGTC AAACTCAAACACTCT CCACCGTCAGGGAAT AAGACTTATT (SEQ ID No. 118) 94 202339136 202339186- 202339257 AACAATTCCATTT — INDEL 4253-4254 Intron4 na 202339187 TTATT (SEQ ID No. 117) *Physical Position on Public B73 RefGen_v3 Map (bp); SNP = single nucleotide polymorphism; INDEL = insertion deletion polymorphism; bp = base pair of Arizona Genomics Institute B73 RefGen_v3 sequence; na: not available

TABLE 9 Polymorphic markers in Italian lines. Marker Poly- Sample Sample Poly- Br2 (SEQ morphism Brachytic Non-Brachytic morphism AY366085 Exon/ mRNA ID) Start* Position* End* Allele Allele Type Position Intron Position  95 202338059 202338124- 202338190 579-bp — INDEL 3190-3191 Intron4 na 202338125 insertion (SEQ ID No. 110)  96 202334500 202334566 202334600 — CCTGGAACGGGTG INDEL na 5′UTR na (SEQ ID No. 119)  97 202336808 202336878 202336948 T A SNP 1944 Intron3 na  98 202336808 202336880 202336948 C T SNP 1946 Intron3 na  99 202337082 202337152- 202337223 — GC INDEL 2218-2219 Intron3 na 202337153 100 202338733 202338802 202338870 A C SNP 3869 Intron4 na 101 202338798 202338866- 202338938 — T INDEL 3933-3944 Intron4 na 202338867 102 202338885 202338954 202339025 G T SNP 4021 Intron4 na 103 202338937 202339007 202339077 C GC SNP 4074 Intron4 na 104 202338991 202339061- 202339132 — T INDEL 4128-4129 Intron4 na 202339062 105 202339107 202339177 202339247 A C SNP 4244 Intron4 na 106 202339128 202339198 202339268 T G SNP 4265 Intron4 na 107 202339145 202339215 202339283 G A SNP 4282 Intron4 na 108 202339217 202339283- 202339349 — T INDEL 4350-4351 Intron4 na 202339284 109 202343667 202343730- 202343797 — GCCGTGCCGA INDEL na 202343731 (SEQ ID No. 120) *Physical Position on Public B73 RefGen_v3 Map (bp); SNP = single nucleotide polymorphism; INDEL = insertion deletion polymorphism; bp = base pair of Arizona Genomics Institute B73 RefGen_v3 sequence; na: not available

Among these new markers, SEQ ID Nos: 86 and 87 reside in the same region as SEQ ID Nos: 1 to 4 and provide updated sequences for the previous four polymorphic markers. SEQ ID No: 88 represents a consolidation of the polymorphisms in SEQ ID Nos: 9 and 10.

Example 8: Additional Br2 Polymorphisms and Markers for Italian Lines

Further sequencing of additional Italian brachytic lines provides a new Br2 polymorphic marker (SEQ ID No: 95, Table 9) concordant with the brachytic phenotype in Italian lines of the BR2P_v1 panel from Table 1. This marker is unique to brachytic lines of Italian origin. A non-brachytic allele of SEQ ID No: 95 comprises a 579-bp insertion.

Additional polymorphisms (SEQ ID Nos: 96 to 109, Table 9) are also identified in Italian brachytic lines (Table 9). Surprisingly, these markers though appear unique to Italian brachytic lines, the brachytic alleles appear identical to reference B73 (non-brachytic) sequences.

Marker selection accuracy is estimated for SEQ ID No:95. Among 34 Italian lines being genotyped at SEQ ID No: 95, 8 lines are brachytic and the other 26 lines are non-brachytic. Seven out of 8 brachytic lines carry the 579-bp insertion (brachytic allele, the insertion sequence is shown in SEQ ID No. 110), while none of the 26 non-brachytic lines carries such an insertion. Therefore, overall prediction accuracy is 97% (Table 10). Exemplary primer and probe sequences used to genotype marker SEQ ID No: 95 are listed in Table 11.

TABLE 10 Characterization of SEQ ID No. 95 maker accuracy for Italian lines. Total Number of Lines Carrying 579- All Italian Lines tested bp Insertion Brachytic 8 7 Non-Brachytic 26 0 False Positive 0% False Negative 13% Overall Accuracy 97% (7 + 26)/(8 + 26) × 100% = 97%

TABLE 11 Primers and probes for detecting polymorphism SEQ ID No. 95. Non- SEQ Chromo- Forward brachytic Brachytic ID some Primer Reverse Primer Br2 Probe br2 Probe 95 1 CATCCGTTCCA ATCTGAGGCTAGCTA TCATGCGTC AGGCCCGT CTCCACTCAC CTAAAGCTTTAGC GCGCACT ATATGGC (SEQ ID No: 112) (SEQ ID No: 113, for (SEQ ID No: 115) (SEQ ID No: 116) amplifying non- brachytic polymorphism) TGGAGGCCAAGTATA TCCTGGAT (SEQ ID No: 114, located in 579- bp insertion and for amplifying brachytic polymorphism)

As various modifications could be made in the constructions and methods herein described and illustrated without departing from the scope of the disclosure, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative rather than limiting. The breadth and scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims appended hereto and their equivalents. All patent and non-patent documents cited in this specification are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. 

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method for selecting a corn plant or seed, said method comprising: a. crossing a first corn plant comprising at least one brachytic allele at a polymorphic locus with a second corn plant to produce a progeny population of corn plants or progeny seeds; b. conducting a marker assay to detect in said progeny population of corn plants or progeny seeds a corn plant or seed comprising a brachytic allele at a polymorphic locus selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 5, 6, 8, 11 to 22, and 86 to 95; and c. selecting said corn plant or seed comprising said brachytic allele.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein said method further comprises backcrossing said selected corn plant or a corn plant grown from said seed with said second corn plant.
 23. The method of claim 21, wherein said selected corn plant or seed is homozygous for said brachytic allele.
 24. The method of claim 23, wherein the height at maturity of said selected corn plant or a corn plant grown from said seed is reduced to between 10% and 70% compared to a control plant not having said brachytic allele.
 25. The method of claim 23, wherein the yield of said selected corn plant or a corn plant grown from said seed is equal to or more than the yield of a control plant not having said brachytic allele.
 26. The method of claim 23, wherein said selected corn plant or a corn plant grown from said seed requires between 5% and 25% fewer heat units to reach anthesis than a control plant not having said brachytic allele.
 27. The method of claim 23, wherein said selected corn plant or a corn plant grown from said seed has a relative maturity of between 10% and 45% fewer days than a control plant not having said brachytic allele.
 28. The method of claim 21, wherein said brachytic allele predicts a brachytic trait with a accuracy of at least 50%.
 29. A method of creating a population of corn plants, said method comprising: a. genotyping a first population of corn plants, said population comprising at least one brachytic allele of a polymorphic locus, wherein said polymorphic locus is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 1 to 6, 8 to 22 and 86 to 109; b. selecting from said first population one or more corn plants containing said at least one brachytic allele; and c. crossing or selfing said selected one or more corn plants to produce a second population, wherein said second population of corn plants comprises said at least one brachytic allele.
 30. The method of claim 21, wherein said first corn plant, said second corn plant, or both are a hybrid dwarf or hybrid semi-dwarf variety.
 31. The method of claim 21, wherein said selected corn plant or seed is a hybrid.
 32. The method of claim 29, wherein said first population of corn plants is a hybrid dwarf or hybrid semi-dwarf variety.
 33. The method of claim 29, wherein said selected corn plant or seed is a hybrid.
 34. The method of claim 29, wherein said method further comprises backcrossing at least one corn plant from said second population with a corn plant from said first population.
 35. The method of claim 29, wherein said genotyping comprises a marker assay.
 36. The method of claim 29, wherein said second population of corn plants is homozygous for said brachytic allele.
 37. The method of claim 36, wherein the height at maturity of a corn plant from said second population is reduced between 10% and 70% compared to a control plant not having said brachytic allele.
 38. The method of claim 36, wherein the yield of, a corn plant from said second population is equal to or more than the yield of a control plant not having said brachytic allele.
 39. The method of claim 36, wherein a corn plant from said second population requires between 5% and 25% fewer heat units to reach anthesis than a control plant not having said brachytic allele.
 40. The method of claim 36, wherein a corn plant from said second population has a relative maturity of between 10% and 45% fewer days than a control plant not having said brachytic allele. 